Whenever the question of who the craziest person ever to compete in MMA was come up, it’s hard to argue against it being the infamous Viacheslav Datsik, and this video serves as a reminder why.
The fight took place at the Pankration Russian Championship in 2000 and saw Datsik going up against the debuting Andrey Budnik, who was about to get a baptism by fire.
Inspired by the ancient Greek sport of the same name, the Pankration Russia organization had very few rules, other than no biting, gouging or attacking the genitals.
Anything else was legal, and Datsik apparently decided to celebrate this newfound freedom by dispensing with traditional kicks and punches, and instead repeatedly launched himself headfirst at Budnik in the early stages of the fight.
The attacks were so wild and unorthodox that Budnik struggled to defend himself, and as such he was struck by several of the headbutts.
It wasn’t long before the bamboozled Budnik became hesitant to engage at all with the unhinged fighter in front of him.
Datsik reveled in the moment, dancing on the spot, taunting his opponent and at one point casually folding his arms on his chest as if bored, then out of nowhere suddenly launched into yet another headbutt.
The end to the fight was equally bizarre, as Datsik started jogging around his opponent in comical fashion, then unleashed a punch that hurt Budnik, who soon after decided he’d had enough of this madness and verbally submitted.
Budnik never fought again after that traumatic debut.
As for Datsik, the following year he’d manage to break the few rules Pankration did have when he repeatedly stamped on Vitali Shkraba’s groin and then poked him in the eye, leading to a disqualification.
Datsik would go on to compile a 6-9 MMA record, before being arrested in 2007 for armed robbery in his native Russia.
Rather than facing criminal charges he was diagnosed as being mentally ill and was sent to a psychiatric facility, but he escaped in 2011 after tearing a hole in a wire fence with his bare hands.
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He fled to Norway, but was deported in 2011 back to Russia, where he’d remain in custody until 2016.
Now weighing over 300lbs, age doesn’t appear to have mellowed the 36-year-old Datsik, as he was arrested later that same year for a series of vigilante raids on brothels.
