Bellator is seemingly striking while the iron is hot with their signing of Darina Madzyuk.
Madzyuk made headlines recently when she fought a 529-pound man named Grigory Chistyakov at a Russian MMA event called “OUR BUSINESS.” The footage naturally went viral not only because of the cross-gender fight, but the fact that Madzyuk was competing at 139 pounds.
Despite that, she was able to TKO Chistyakov and come away with the victory. Her reward is a contract with Bellator as according to Robbie Fox of Barstool Sports, she has signed an exclusive contract with the Santa Monica-based promotion.
She will be competing at flyweight.
“BREAKING: @BellatorMMA has signed Darina Madzyuk (3-1) to an exclusive contract. She will compete at flyweight and went viral earlier this month for KOing this 529lb man in Russia….”
BREAKING: @BellatorMMA has signed Darina Madzyuk (3-1) to an exclusive contract. She will compete at flyweight and went viral earlier this month for KOing this 529lb man in Russia….https://t.co/MCy5Tsz7od
— Robbie Fox (@RobbieBarstool) December 15, 2020
Not Everyone Was Impressed With Madzyuk Fight
Perhaps Bellator saw some untapped potential in Madzyuk which could very well be the case. However, not everyone was impressed with her last fight.
British MMA referee Marc Goddard notably called the fight abysmal and sickening.
“This is what we are dealing with – in 2020. This is what we are fighting against as the parallels & negative connotations are continually drawn. To outsiders & detractors this is MMA. Shameful. Sickening. Abysmal. 😔”
Luckily for Madzyuk, she will be fighting people in her own gender and weight class at Bellator.
