Police have launched an investigation after participants were filmed being slammed to the floor and kicked in the head in a violent conclusion to a jiu-jitsu tournament at a venue in the suburban Moscow town of Krasnogorsk.
The furious fracas broke out following a Brazilian jiu-jitsu tournament – called Moscow Winter BJJ Cup – for children and adults last Saturday, with participants and guests embroiled in the scrap.
In the footage, an initial angry stand-off explodes when two younger men start exchanging punches. Right after that a man who supposedly was trying to stop the fight, can be seen hoisted into the air and smashed to the floor before others weigh in to the row.
More assailants join in with kicks and punches to both sides of his body as the scene descends into chaos.
The video of the brawl went viral over the weekend and gained hundreds of thousands of views across different social media platforms in Russia.
Unsurprisingly, it also caught the attention of Russian law enforcement. Talking to local media, the Ministry of Internal Affairs confirmed its plans to investigate the situation.