Meat Grinder. How Russia Fell in Love with Bloody Sports

Here they swallow blood, break bones and lose consciousness, stars flare up for weeks, and any conflict threatens to turn into a fight. Bare-knuckle fights, pop-MMA and brawls on YouTube have turned into a phenomenon that annoys many but is on everyone's lips. Millions of people eagerly follow the fate of street fighters, bloggers, celebrities, and desperate athletes who enter the ring for money, hype, and thrills. Journalist and fight industry researcher Alexey Alyokhin explains how fistfights became a national sport. "Meat Grinder" is a fundamental and wild chronicle of the world of modern martial arts, in which absurdity, chaos, and merry savagery of Russian life are reflected as if under a magnifying glass.