One -armed bandit against all

There are many inspiring stories about people with disabilities that overcame the circumstances in order to do what they love, but so brutal as Alexander Karapetyan from Novosibirsk, are rare. He has almost no left hand, which he lost after a mortal illness, he earns a living by laying tiles and prepares to fulfill his main dream - to debut in a professional battle according to the rules of MMA, but for now he cuts down the country, beating the opponents of the healthy right and what remains of the left limb and imitates Conor McGregor in social networks. Drama, trashtok, testosterone and a lot of blood - the author of Samizdat studies the journey of a one -armed bandit to his goal.

In the first seconds of amateur battle at the Troubles tournament, Alexander Karapetyan realized that he had injured the only healthy right hand. This did not stop him, and he began to methodically inject his left, ending with a stump of five centimeters just below the elbow, an opponent in the face. According to the rules of the tournament, blows of elbows are prohibited, but when only one of the fighters have two hands, you can give concessions. The battle stops after one minute: the opponent of Karapetyan is knocked out and broken ear, Karapetyan wins with a technical knockout. “I have two knuckles there. When I beat them in the eye or in the face, the sensations are unpleasant. It probably hurts him. I don't know, ”he says.

Alexander Karapetyan lost his hand at the age of 18, but did not lose his desire to fight and become a professional fighter. His idols are Bruce Lee, Mike Tyson and the most ferocious prisoner of Great Britain Charles Bronson, his example for imitation is the most famous one -armed fighter in MMA Nick Newel, in social networks he copies the rough style of communication of Conor McGregor and believes that it will become no less successful than other UFC stars.

In the meantime, Karapetyan lives in Novosibirsk and earns a living by laying tiles. Largely thanks to the profession of his Instagram - it seems that one of the most ferocious accounts dedicated to martial arts - looks so brutally. Here Karapetyan in clothes, smeared with cement, trains in the pauses between work, here the brick breaks the elbow with the elbow, aerated concrete blocks - with a fist of the right and end of the left hand. Squeezes from the floor on one finger. He uses an access staircase for training on his feet and makes jumping out of semi -wraps through the steps. “Several times they asked me the question:“ Why are you training? ” I answer: they do not ask such questions born for greatness and victories, they only observe. Understand? Everything, the question is closed, ”writes Karapetyan in social networks.

"I broke your hand nine times"

Alexander Karapetyan was born in Gyumri in 1993, and when he turned one and a half years, the family moved to Novosibirsk. Brother and sister were born already in Russia. Alexander did not always love to fight. “When other children dug up to me, I did not understand what they needed,” he recalls. After conflicts, he closed in himself and silently sat at home. Father did not like this, and he organized two fights for Alexander - with his friends' sons. “I was eight, and the guys nine and ten. They fought in his fists, as the kids fight on the street. My father prepared me for three months and released me for battle. After that, the spirit increased, ”says Karapetyan.

Father could still teach him a lot, but did not have time. According to Alexander, Karapetyan Sr. was killed in 2002-competitors in construction business were killed at night on the street. After that, the family returned to Armenia. In Gyumri, Karapetyan played a defender for a football team of the city. It compensated small size by speed, and when his team lost, he started a fight and received disqualification. From the age of 14 he took up fencing - from this his right hand became fast, but he used his left less often. “The first time I broke her at nine. It turned out stupid. He climbed onto a tree to tear off the pear, and fell. Out of greed - I saw a big pear, ”Alexander recalls. He was given gypsum, but he continued to fight and play football. In total, Karapetyan broke his hand nine times. The bone grew unevenly, the liquid began to accumulate - and the tumor formed. He underwent surgery and lost consciousness from severe drugs, but the tumor continued to grow until the doctors diagnosed: fibrosarkurk of the fourth degree. By the age of 18, Karapetyan agreed to amputation, which ultimately made it to those who are today: “After the operation, I was a happy person. As if I took off my heavy burden. I immediately went to fight - to check my strength on the street. Make sure I'm the same that everything is fine. ”

Amputation did not make him less decisive. Having moved back to Novosibirsk with his family, 18-year-old Karapetyan soon quarreled with a friend who owed a thousand rubles. It was not possible to give in time.

According to Alexander, the creditor came to his house when he was not, and took the DVD player and a couple of phones.

The acquaintance returned things, but the conflict did not stop it - the lender’s older brother intervened.

According to Karapetyan, he came to his house with his friend and began to threaten that he would break his second hand. The dispute led to a fight in the courtyard, in which Alexander received a shovel on the head and grabbed the knife. The creditor's brother ran away.

“I thought that since they came together, he could return with the crowd and went himself. Found it in the entrance. I just wanted to scratch. The first two strokes of the knife tore the down jacket, the third touched the lung. One millimeter and serious bodily damage. The judge gave me a year. Was it hard? Physically - normal, but psychologically very difficult - locked up all the time. He sat, thought. Freedom is more interesting to me than such a life, ”recalls the fighter.

"I have two hands"

“After the prison, I tried to avoid any conflict. For two years, he practically did not leave the house, ”Karapetyan admits. Gradually, he began to get involved in ordinary life. He worked as a tile and tried to organize his business four times. Including the online store of sports shoes and a company offering the services of movers.

At 23, Alexander again actively started sports and began to participate in push -ups and pull -ups, but everything changed when he saw Nick Newell’s battles on the Internet. Newell is an excellent Grappler, masterfully using a variety of pain and suffocating techniques, despite the lack of left hand, and his attempts to get into the UFC eventually made him one of the most famous fighters with disabilities. In 11 battles, he won already in the first round. “I was surprised because I know what fights are and how difficult it is. Newella's story was very motivated by me, and the goal appeared to conduct a fight, ”recalls Karapetyan.

The easiest way to try his hand was at the Strelka tournament - an organization that has been holding street battles throughout Russia since 2011. To take part, it is enough to send an application, undergo an external physical examination on the day of the duel and sign a document on the refusal of claims. According to the official website of the project, the events are held “on sand rings, according to the simplified version of the world MMA rules, without elbows, without rounds and time, the battle goes from beginning to end, with the participation of professional judges and ambulance teams.” Strelka participants fought on beaches, abandoned factories, in military units, on a football field, in a burned cafe and even in the Peter and Paul Fortress. By the colorfulness of nicknames, the organization is also ahead of all the promoters of the world: there is a fierce crazy, frantic panda, a cool Jew, porn, steroid and Tajik with a bag. Alexander Karapetyan became one -armed bandit.

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“Friends, relatives, acquaintances, even the neighbors began to tell me that I was crazy, that I was an idiot and where I was climbing. But I sent an application, ”Karapetyan recalls. - I made up that I am a specific fighter. Three hundred victories, zero defeats. And ... went to close the target. " Alexander’s height - 168 centimeters, weight - about 54 kilograms. Finding opponents for a lightweight fighter is always not easy, and one -armed Karapetyan was doubly difficult. “Fifteen people refused,” says Andrei Kichatov, organizer of Strelka Novosibirsk. - The reason is the same: I will lose - it will be a shame that I lost to one -armed one. I’ll win - people will say that one -armed to win - a lot is not necessary. ” But the chance to debut in Strelka was still introduced to Alexander.

The debut battle of a one -armed bandit took place in the village of Aya Altai Territory. His opponent was Dmitry Dyakonov, nicknamed "Altai Cadet." Before the battle, Alexander had to overcome fear, not quite ordinary for a young fighter: "I was afraid that I would hit a man, something would happen to him-and I would be sent to prison again." The former football player did not lose speed and threw the opponent to the floor three times, but Dyakonov managed to take a dominant position in the stalls and began to finish Karapetyan - not at full strength. The fights on the Strelka are fast - this one lasted two minutes and ten seconds. “People met and escorted Alexander with applause, like his opponent. There was no criticism as such. We believe that every person needs to give a chance to prove himself in such battles if he wants it, ”says the organizer of Kichatov.

The defeat only spurred Karapetyan. After the battle, he sent a photo from the fight to the instagram Nick Newell and a message in Russian: “Brother, I'm following you. Three years later we will meet. ” "Very nice!" - suddenly answered Newel, and Karapetyan began to prepare for the second match. In this, he was helped by a former special forces and coach with twelve -year -old Daniel “Old Viking” Shargan, who was struck by the zeal of the ward: “I saw a purposeful fighter with great potential. Alexander is not the first to fight without one or more limbs. ”

The second battle of Karapetyan took place at Rubka Street Fighting Championship 4 in May 2018. To this battle, one -armed bandit changed the nickname to “Kargat Ostrook” - in honor of the Orc from the World of Warcraft, which interrupted his hand to free himself from slavery. “Nobody wanted to fight with Alexander due to his injury,” Shargan recalls. The coach found the opponent and persuaded him to go out to the battle - it was then that Karapetyan finished the duel with a technical knockout, breaking his opponent with his left strokes. “I hope now you realized that I have two hands, just one like a gnome in length. He promised friends that I would knock out on the left. So I did it, ”wrote Karapetyan after the battle on his Instagram.

"This is a plan of God"

Karapetyan trains in any free minute - in the hall, on the street, in the apartments that are repaired: “I threw a pack of glue 25 kg on my back and squat at 5 approaches 10 times. Before the squat, I throw two bananas. ” The clever Karapetyan’s tile puts it alone and is able to make a bathroom with 29 square meters in six days. In the hall, he raises a bar with 40 kilograms on his outstretched arm. On the street sinter, it pierces 943 kilograms with his right hand and 625 with a short left. Directly on the lawn, he works out with a partner a way out of strangling reception. His body is dry and embossed, although Karapetyan admits that it is not easy to recover after training: "poor nutrition, dust, insomnia - all this affects the muscles."

He said goodbye to the coach of Shargan. Danil himself says that Alexander, although he has the willpower and determination, is too unstable and often chopping from the shoulder without understanding the problem. According to Shargan, their cooperation ceased when Karapetyan decided that the coach was promoting him and that he would prepare for battles on his own.

The public image of Karapetyan really looks sharp and aggressive, although when you talk with him in Skype, the fighter is as calm and polite as possible. He says that the imitation of the chief scandalist in modern MMA Conor McGregor is rather a forced measure. “The rivals refused the battles! So I began to attract attention to myself in a black one. He created the impression of a negative and nasty person who wants to hacklely beat, ”he says. - He dug up to the organizers, threw loud challenges to guys from different categories, even with heavyweights in social networks bite. He created stress so that there was no pity. Because in the first battle it was this pity that was. ” Therefore, now the tone of his posts is as self -confident and arrogant as possible. For example: “I have always been stronger than my peers, and everyone was afraid of me. The fact that I have no hand is a plan of God. I’m even stronger now because I have the power of God ”or“ I just show MMA by the organizer of MMA that I am always in shape, and not write down the video so that you say: what a good fellow you are. I know without this that well done. ” And, apparently, the tactics he chosen works.

For the sake of another amateur battle in September 2018, Karapetyan drove 600 kilometers in Omsk. The referee was in jeans and worked barefoot. The opponent of a one -armed bandit named Nurmagomedov was inferior to growth, but was noticeably denser. Karapetyan got up after two wrestling throws, tried to catch the opponent on the "guillotine" and hit the corps well. Rastification - the right side flew in exactly the head of the Armenian. Nurmagomedov inflicted four ruthless strikes on the lying Alexander. The fight took 2 minutes and 20 seconds. “The great respect for my opponent for finishing me at the end,” Karapetyan wrote on his page in VK. - This is the proof that I am a full -fledged fighter, like everyone else. Kill or be killed! "

"Fighting with one hand - madness"

In his accounts, Karapetyan shares the dreams of holding a battle with Nick Newell, to undergo an operation to transplant a hand for 35,000,000 rubles and assemble a tournament in which one -armed fighters would participate - he, Newar, Karatist Jake Picok and Kikbokser Bacter Hambi.

“Any person who has such health restrictions is important psychologically to feel full - to be able to stand up for himself, to fight. Therefore, they are engaged in martial arts, ”says Alexander Shlemenko, ex-Bellator in the middle weight. Several people with disabilities are engaged in his hall. For example, Hero of Russia Dmitry Perminov, who lost a brush during a military operation. The deaf -mute fighter Agasif Alikberov, who conducted seven battles in professionals, won two and lost five. Shlempenko “normally refers” to the fact that one -armed fighters opposed ordinary athletes, but admits that he himself “psychologically difficult” tunes up for a hard work against people with disabilities.

“What do I need to sign such a fighter? He must be talented, must win - that's it. If medicine approves of his performances in MMA, then the requirements are the same as the rest, ”says Ivan Bannikov, the top of the UFC top heavyweight Alexander Volkov. - No concessions and privileges. I do not think that some super-hap should be made of this. ” Bannikov is now trying to sign in one of the foreign promotions Cherman Kobesov, a paralympic runner, who had already conducted four fights according to the rules of MMA-he won two and lost two. Because of osteomyelitis, Kobesov’s left hand is shorter than the right, and not so mobile.

The most successful of people with disabilities in MMA remains the hero of Karapetyan Nick Newel. Like Alexander, Newell's left hand ends just below the elbow, but he was born with such an injury. Mom encouraged his playing sports - baseball, basketball and football. In high school, he took up the struggle. He lost the first 17 matches, but carried away seriously, won more than 300 fights and participated in the state championships.

He debuted to Profi Newel in 2009-the inspiration was the reality show The Ultimate Fighter, where the fighters fought for the contract with the UFC.

Real problems with the search for opponents began after the first two victories in the pros: "People began to give up the battle not because I have one hand, but because I have one hand and I am good." There were fewer problems when his battles began to regularly show on TV. Newella was well received in the MMA community. He never complained, communicated amiably and conducted non -cunning battles. Nick strove in the world's largest UFC promotion, but UFC President Dane White said in 2012 that Newell would never fight: “For me to fight with one hand, this is madness.”

Nick continued to speak, left sports for two years, but still returned in 2018 and again asked to sign it in the UFC. Newell's main argument was his track record - 14 victories and one defeat in the pros. Many fighters supported him, the louder than anyone - Justin Gatie, who inflicted him the only defeat. “Nick earned the battle. If he loses, then not because of a lack of skill or limited opportunities, but because we are all gladiators, ”wrote Gatie on Twitter, which by that time had become one of the tops of the UFC lightweight.

After a personal meeting with Newell White, he decided to give Nick a chance: “The guy worked on this all his life. I do not do it for myself, not for the sake of UFC. This is his dream. I told him: “This is madness, friend, but I will do it”. ” White was afraid for Nick's safety in the UFC, so Newell was supposed to hold a qualifying duel on the White Contender Series show. Its winners often receive a contract with promotion. In July 2018, 28-year-old Alex Mugnos with a 4-0 tracking list became the opponent of 32-year-old Newella.

Ник дал интервью о бое сразу после того, как побывал у врача: лицо украшали два шва. «Эмоционально это тяжело, но я уже проигрывал — и возвращался сильнее», — сказал Ньюэлл. Муньос много боролся с Ником в партере — убедительно, но в слишком унылой манере, чтобы Уайт предложил ему контракт. «Я очень сильно уважаю Ньюэлла, — сказал Дэйна. — Поэтому и дал ему этот шанс. Просто UFC — жёсткое место даже для человека с двумя руками и ногами».

«Это довольно сложно»

План Александра Карапетяна выглядит так: провести 10 поединков по любителям, а потом переходить к профессиональным боям, результаты которых будут заноситься в его послужной список. Поражения его не смущают — важнее набираться боевого опыта. Ради него он готов ездить по стране сотни километров в машине с неработающей печкой в самые свирепые морозы, чтобы поучаствовать в очередном поединке, и ждёт первого выступления по профессионалам.

И такие шансы у него есть. «Если одноруких бойцов допускают до поединков в Америке, то в России точно допустят. Мы гораздо более лояльны с точки зрения допуска по медицинским показателям, — говорит президент одного из крупнейших российских промоушенов Fight Nights Камил Гаджиев. — Предполагаю, что такой боец может выступить в Fight Nights. Но с этими ребятами всегда есть сложности. С тем же Ньюэллом — нужно было находить оппонента, который абсолютно здоров, но при этом имеет те же шансы, что и однорукий. Это довольно сложно и мало кто согласится, но возможность не исключаю».

Самому Карапетяну наверняка будет сложнее. У него нет такого бэкграунда в борьбе или других единоборствах. Организм Ньюэлла не испытывал стресса в виде смертельно опасной болезни. Против Карапетяна играет и вес, а Ньюэлл выступал в лёгком дивизионе (до 70,3 килограмма) — одном из самых конкурентных и переполненных бойцами разного уровня. В наилегчайшем весе (до 56,7 килограмма) спортсменов меньше, хотя в профи уровень оппонентов будет в любом случае серьёзнее, чем сейчас.

Карапетяна это не останавливает, хотя в любителях он пока выиграл один бой и проиграл четыре. «Я более чем уверен, что Александр должен выступать дальше, — считает его экс-тренер Шарган. — Такие люди многих мотивируют. Ему нужен хороший тренер, хотя он считает иначе». Похожую точку зрения разделяет и герой Карапетяна Ник Ньюэлл. «Продолжай, если любишь это, — сказал Ньюэлл в ответ на просьбу дать совет Карапетяну. — Просто найди время и научись грэпплингу перед тем, как подерёшься снова».

Похоже, Ньюэлл внимательно следит за инстаграмом Карапетяна и знает, что советовать. Последний бой Александра состоялся на «Стрелке» в апреле этого года. Однорукий бандит резво отбивал ногами голени лежащего оппонента, но позже попался на удушающий со спины. Бой продлился 66 секунд, но, вне зависимости от результата, остался таким же, как и любой другой, в котором участвует Александр Карапетян: полным скорости, тестостерона и драмы.