It has already been one year since the “Tornado” fight club has been
hosting its own show called “Fights without rules”. There are many
people who come to watch these shows. Every now and then, oligarchs
come to watch these fights and even make their bodyguards fight to see
who is stronger. There have been times when the businessman or oligarch
has changed his bodyguard and provided the winner of the fight with VIP
and a contract. The salaries given by the oligarchs are said to range
from $200-700 dollars.
People with nervous breakdowns and who don’t enjoy seeing blood should
not come to the fight club. Many people come here to relieve the
week-long stress and to increase the percentage of adrenaline in their
organisms. We are a very nationalist people: after the end of every
fight, we play “Dle Yaman” “in honor” of the winner, and the song gets
accompanied by the audience’s whistling and noise.
In general, “Fights without rules” is pretty well-known in the world
and has a number of fans. The “Fights without rules” competitions
organized by the Armenian Athletic Federation have found their
audience. We Armenians also like to watch the blood-shed. We even bet
on the fights.
VIP
Like many, I also called and ordered VIP tickets for 7,000 drams. The
regular seats cost 4,000 drams. There were not too many people that
day, but there was still the buzz of a “big fight” to take place.
When I first approached the building, I saw a group of men(mainly
police officers) and judging by the look on their faces, I came to the
conclusion that women don’t come here and that this is strictly for
men. After finding my seat and sitting down, I researched the place and
assured myself that watching blood-shed in Armenia is not a monopoly.
There are many girls who come here with their boyfriends, or
girlfriends, or brothers to watch their husband or friend fight. If the
fighter wins, he gets awarded 100 dollars. In case he loses, he gets 50
dollars. However, I found out from some of the fighters that now
instead of getting 50 dollars, they only get 10,000 drams(approximately
20 dollars). But if the fighter becomes a champion, then despite how
the game ended, he gets 300 dollars weekly. Before the fights begin,
each fighter is secured from any damage caused to the body. The
Federation pays 10 euros for each fighter who gets hurt in the ring.
This allows for a 1,000 euro treatment for the bruises. However, it is
difficult to say how the damage of the nose, waist or other parts can
reflect upon the fighter’s health.
The reputable president of the “Fights without rules” federation is
National Assembly deputy Gagik Tsarukyan who is also the main sponsor
for the competitions. He is the owner of “Fights without rules”. The
strong athletes of Armenia come to “Tornado” from different regions of
Armenia. Some come to fight for money while others come just to show
off. According to facts, some oligarchs, owners of stores and casinos
often come here to pick their bodyguards. In addition, from time to
time many of them insist on having their “own” bodyguards to
participate in the fights. “Let me see if you really are strong…..”.
When the owner says this, then the bodyguard has no other choice but to
fight. The bodyguards who fight and lose have a high chance of losing
their jobs and having problems with their bosses. One of the trainers
who had wished to not fight, complained saying: “It is not right to
make the bodyguard fight like an animal. You have to not only have the
strength, but also the brains.” By saying “fighting boys”, this is what
also attracts girls. In Etchmiadzin, even girls participate in the
fights without rules organized by the clubs in Etchmiadzin. The girls,
however, don’t get permission to participate in the regions of Yerevan
since those fights are broadcasted on television.
I can’t really explain why, but before the fight started the DJ working
at the “Tornado” club was playing romantic melodies, love songs-
perhaps for “meditation” before going into the ring. Before the fights
began, the host for the evening made an announcement about the
bookmaking system: people who wish to make a bet staring from 1000
drams. The bet is registered in the computer on small tickets where
besides the names of the fighters and the amount of money the
treasurer’s name Nelly is on the ticket too. The individual who doesn’t
have a clue about this type of athletic sport is not too interested in
the list of fighters and their past successes. So, it is better to
listen to the audience’s suggestions instead of making bets. In the
beginning of the fight, the referee announced the rules: no attack on
the head, no pulling the hair(even though all the fighters had their
heads shaven), no attack on the fighter’s collar-bone, backbone, the
back part of the head, the thyroid gland and testicles. It is forbidden
to bite, make it hard for the fighter to breathe, take out the eyes out
of their sockets, attack the head if the fighter is lying down on the
ground. Even though the fighting process was short(sometimes it takes
10-15 minutes), however, it was a blood-shed without any rules which
was welcomed by the crowd. What was surprising was that most of the
people making noise were young boys whose fathers had brought them
there to raise the spirit of martial art. During the intermissions, the
custodian was wiping the blood shed on the floor. This is how it is
every week.
To kill some time, I decided to make a bet, however the list of
fighters and their titles all seemed like hieroglyphs to me. For the
first round, I decided to make my choice out of curiosity, marked the
person I was betting on by putting a check-mark next to the fighter’s
name and paid the amount to the waiter. I lost. Then I found a clever
way. I wasn’t going to lose all my money now. During and after the
fight, the supervising officials were making predictions. After the
first round I understood that those predictions had turned out to be
right. One fighter, who was carefully observing the fight and was going
to fight the following week, tried to help me out. He knew every
fighter at the fight club and knew how tough each fighter was. During
the bets, I followed all the advices given by Hovik and I won 3,200
drams.
Fights without a license
According to article 1040 (“The permission granted by the state and
communities for lotto games, bookmaking and organizing other games”) of
the seventh subtext (“Contracts for games and bets”) of the civil code
of the Republic of Armenia: “The relations between participants and
organizations (The Republic of Armenia, communities, governmental body
for granting licenses) are based on the contract”. In order to find out
if the “Tornado” and the “Fights without rules” Armenian federation has
the right to organize a lotto game, “168 hours” weekly went to the
ministry of finances and economy of the RA where we got the following
reply: “In response to your article in the September 13 issue, we are
making it clear that the ministry of finances and economy of the
Republic of Armenia has not granted the permission for “Tornado” fight
club and the “Fights without rules” Armenian Federation to have license
for lottos.” “168” hours weekly also had some questions for the chief
of revenue services under the supervison of the government of the RA F.
Tsolakyan. We asked him to please tell us how the “Tornado” fight club
and the “Fights without rules” Armenian Federation, and vice versa, pay
their taxes. However, there has still been no response.