MOSCOW, January 21 - RAPSI. The Criminal Board of the Moscow City Court has rejected the appeal to revert the verdict of manslaughter handed down to mixed martial arts wrestler Rasul Mirzayev in the case of the death of Moscow student Ivan Agafonov, 19.

On November 27, 2012, the Zamoskvoretsky District Court of Moscow sentenced Mirzayev two years for manslaughter. The court allowed him to be released, however, as he had been imprisoned since August 24, 2011, and one day in a pre-trial detention center counts for two in a penitentiary.

Prior to his arrest, Mirzayev was widely regarded as a promising MMA fighter. He was undefeated in the ring and won two of his five victories with knockout punches.
On August 16, 2011, between the incident and his arrest, Mirzayev made headlines in the MMA world for signing a professional multi-fight contract with the sponsor Bellator Fighting Championships.

Mirzayev was initially charged with intentional infliction of grievous bodily harm, resulting in Agafonov's death. During their fight outside a popular Moscow nightclub, the 19-year-old student received a blow to the head and collapsed. He died in a hospital days later without regaining consciousness.

The lawyers wrote in their appeal that the judge who made the ruling neglected to say that Mirzayev was originally charged with causing grievous bodily harm which resulted in death. Furthermore, the text of the verdict does not include information about several pieces of evidence which the lawyers provided. Hence the victims representatives asked that the case be returned for review.