Former UFC Fighter Currently Dying In Prison For Hitman Murders

What a dark story

Armenian-Russian mixed martial arts veteran Amar Suloev is heavily tied in to the colorful tapestry of this sport. He may not have been the most well known fighter of his era, but the Yazidi family member fought for the top promotions during his fighting career, and finished with a 24-7 record and retired on a win. Considering he started fighting in the 1990’s, a final record with a 3.4:1 win/loss ration is very impressive. Suloev fought some very well known fighters too, defeating the likes of Yushin Okami, Dean Lister, Andrei Seminov, Murilo Bustamante, Din Thomas and more.

His losses came at the hands of future UFC title contender Chael Sonnen, hall of famer Chuck Liddell before he was champion, Dennis Kang, Paulo Filho Seminov (1-1), and one Darrel Gholar. But in 2008 his fighting career ended, and the man who had trained at Fedor Emelianenko‘s future gym, defeated some top competition during a dark period in the sport, and even had a submission named after him (Suloev stretch) fell in to a harrowing pit of organized crime, murder and terminal illness.

This dark report by Bloody Elbow reveals how deep the once accomplished MMA fighter has fallen in to the criminal abyss. Check out the dark tale:

Following Suloev’s retirement eight years ago, he joined a private security company (VAN) in the Krasnodarsky Krai region of Russia. It was there that he met Sergei Zirinov, an ill-fated acquaintance that took Amar down a desperate spiral to the underworld of illegal activities. Zirinov, a Krasnodar legislative assemblyman, was later arrested for allegedly assassinating his political rivals. Sergei was also a member of President Vladimir’s Putin’s ‘United Russia’ party. Suloev appeared to be a rising member of his organized crime group.

The gang is believed to have killed the director of the Malaya Bukhta sanatorium, Vitaly Sadovnichy, and his wife Olga Ivankina, as well as businessman Salman Nabiyev. They had attempted to assassinate Nikolai Nesterenko but killed his driver instead and left the deputy wounded from the injuries…

Amar Suloev appeared to be dying. The court was adjourned.

Instead of being sent to a medical facility, Suloev was returned to his jail cell, where he lost 48 pounds during the Christmas holidays. Prosecutors continued to deny him medical attention until he began to bleed internally. He even pled his own case:

“Your Honor, I am worse and worse. It’s a vicious circle. I could not participate in the process. From my judgment, I am returned to prison where nobody cares about my condition, and no one involved in my treatment. I’m not trying to make you pity. I can make anything you want. But what I want here? I really do not understand what is happening. I do not listen. I feel dizzy. Noise in the ears. Weight loss continues. I ask you to treat with understanding and adjourn.”

Suloev was taken to the hospital in Rostov and a gastroscopy that found an “aggravated ulcer” and “chemical burns in the esophagus” that had caused gastric bleeding. However, when it was time to examine the stomach tissue closely to ensure that there was no risk of stomach cancer, the doctors did not undergo the testing because of “technical issues.”

“The likelihood of cancer is quite large,” Amar’s lawyer, Alexander Pervach, said. “This can be seen even from a single endoscopy. The conclusions of this week are very disappointing. Our client is slowly dying, and ten lawyers and four public prosecutor can not possibly get medical treatment from the court.”

The trial is still ongoing. An April 12 hearing, the most recent one of note, was postponed indefinitely. Russian law does not place a limit on the amount of postponements of court hearings during criminal cases.

As the courts moved ahead at a snail’s pace, Suloev, a former World Champion turned contract killer, sat in his jail cell clutching at his stomach as he waited for his verdict, or death.