Tapology is a prominent MMA website known for its comprehensive fighter database and event coverage. They have recently announced they’ve uncovered a new case of a fraudulent record.
They did so by flagging the fight page of Sanjar Azhibaev, aka “Sapsan,” for fraudulent record-keeping practices.
In a series of tweets, Tapology unveiled the extent of Azhibaev’s deception, revealing that several of his recent wins were achieved by stealing the identities of legitimate but inactive fighters. By falsely attributing victories to these established fighters, Azhibaev sought to enhance his own reputation and bolster his record with victories over fictitious opponents.
One such example highlighted by Tapology involved Mikhail Kislica, a quality Ukrainian fighter with a record of 16-4 who had been inactive since 2017. Azhibaev’s team managed to deceive a Tapology editor into posting a photo to Kislica’s Tapology page, creating the illusion that he was an active participant in the MMA scene. Subsequently, Azhibaev arranged a fight with the fictitious Kislica under the auspices of the WEF promotion, ultimately defeating an unknown opponent in just 90 seconds.
Tapology’s investigation uncovered similar instances of identity theft in Azhibaev’s recent fights, prompting the site to flag all of his wins as ineligible. The fraudulent practices extended beyond individual fights, with Tapology uncovering evidence of an entire event, the Patriot Fighting Championship (PFC) in Andijan, Uzbekistan, being orchestrated to boost the records of preferred fighters.
Upon reviewing video footage of the PFC event, Tapology discovered that several fighters announced as representing Kyrgyzstan were actually impostors who assumed the identities of legitimate fighters. These impostors, whose nationalities and accomplishments were falsely touted by the cage announcer, engaged in bouts under false aliases, further perpetuating the deception surrounding Azhibaev’s MMA career.
