Thread by @jaypettry

If you need a brief recap about the Askar Mozharov story, here it is: this fighter worked his way to the #UFC, representing himself with a 25-7 record. After thorough Fight Finder investigations, that record proved to be manipulated, and we adjusted accordingly. 1/7

Last we presented his information, and when factoring in his #UFCVegas56 loss to Alonzo Menifield, Mozharov’s pro record plummeted down to 17-14. An unprecedented transformation, to be clear, but surely that had to be everything, right?

It wasn’t, and don’t call me Shirley. 2/7

As the investigation carried on, some sources responded – for example, a Sambo Federation head informed us of the 2014 card Askar was NOT on – while others were unavailable. Recently, we reached not just the founder of one org, but the ref presiding over that org's “event.” 3/7

In that beautiful one-two combo, the owner of the OPFA Safari promotion in Ukraine confirmed that three shows from Feb. to May 2015 in Odessa never occurred. The ref listed on every one of those fake fights just got back to us, corroborating this while adding extra details. 4/7

The evidence we received was overwhelming. The organizers never staged these three “Safari – Ukraine Cup” events, the billed ref was not in that part of the country at that time, and for the piece de resistance, the venue in which the fights were “held” does not exist. 5/7

You might ask yourself how it’s possible all of this got by recordkeepers for so long. It’s a great question, and one without a solid answer. It’s hard to say what evidence the team received all those years ago, but this pattern of fraudulent conduct finally met its match. 6/7

It’s anyone’s guess if more details come to light about Mozharov and his recently deflated record. This is not to pick on this one fighter, and rather the culmination of months of hard work. He is now one win above .500, with a pro record of 15-14. Quite a far cry from 25-7. 7/7