MMA coach injured during mass shooting in St. Petersburg

Ruslan Bulguchev was hospitalized after being shot four times during the mass brawl.

Mixed martial arts coach Ruslan Bulguchev was among those injured during a mass brawl-turned-shooting that took place in St. Petersburg, Russia.

According to reports from Russian media, the incident took place on Aug. 8 in the suburbs around Ekaterininskaya Street, where approximately 30 people gathered to take part in a mass fight.

According to witnesses, the fight lasted for several minutes until one of the participants began firing gun shots. As the group dispersed and fled the scene, Bulguchev was found lying on the ground.

A portion of the incident was captured on video.

Bulguchev was hospitalized and diagnosed with “lacerations in the chest and thigh” after being shot four times. He was released from hospital shortly thereafter.

“It’s all right with me. Yes, they hurt, but everything is in order,” Bulguchev told reporters. “I’m on my way to work now, so it’s all good. I don’t know why they did such a fuss.”

Some reports have since claimed that several other MMA fighters were involved in the brawl, including Artyom Tarasov and Nikita Solonin. Tarasov has since claimed that he was present at the scene but did not take part in the brawl.

“You can even see on the video at the end where the guys are beating a man, I run over and say that you don’t need to beat one,” Tarasov said. “I am in a black jacket and yellow slippers.”