MMA Fighter on Celebrating Victory With the National Flag: This Is the Least I Could Do for My People

Mark Miadzvedzeu considers the white-red-white flag a symbol of Belarusian protest.

On December 12, Belarusian MMA fighter Mark Miadzvedzeu won the fight with Urison Kokulbekov (Tajikistan) within the FFC-Selection: 5. After the end of the fight, Miadzvedzeu entered the ring with the white-red-white flag and celebrated the victory. These shots appeared on the social network TikTok - and literally in a few hours, it seems, the whole of Belarus has already watched and re-watched this video filled with amazingly powerful and bright energy.

Homel-born Mark Miadzvedzeu gave his first interview to the Belarusian media Silnyie Novosti after his brilliant victory.

Mark's childhood passed in Kastsiukouka, then a village, and now a microdistrict of Homel. When it came time to choose which sports section to give preference to, it was not a big deal - Greco-Roman wrestling and football were and remain the hallmarks of Kastsiukouka. "Of course, I chose to fight," Mark says. He was not mistaken in his choice: literally, from the first training, he began to show good results, and, at the age of 16, he was already fighting at a good level. Excellent prospects opened up before Mark, but, unfortunately, it was at this time that he received a number of serious injuries. "It knocked me down a bit," Mark says.

Who knows how the fate of Mark Miadzvedzeu in sports would have developed if he had not been drafted into the 38th Brest Air Assault Brigade. In the army, he got acquainted with another type of martial arts - with hand-to-hand combat. "I started to fight. I didn't really know how to beat with my hands and just fought my rivals: I lifted them and threw. But it paid off: I started winning," Mark says. He never returned to Greco-Roman wrestling, deciding to develop his talent in the direction of mixed martial arts, or MMA.

For four years now, Mark Miadzvedzeu has lived and trained in Moscow. This is due to the fact that building a serious sports career in the field of MMA in Homel turned out to be difficult, if not impossible.

- At night, I worked in security; during the day, I trained. Injuries began to haunt me again. Many different problems have accumulated. On the invitation to continue to engage in mixed martial arts in Moscow, I agreed. In Moscow, I was very lucky with the coach and the club: I was well received; they took care of housing, provided optimal conditions for high-quality training, and organized a fight. Of course, in Moscow, the athlete has immeasurably great opportunities, and, accordingly, prospects - there is room for development.

At the same time, my home is, of course, Homel. This is the place where I was born and grew up, with which I have many good memories. Every year I come home for a long time - for the whole summer. I spend time with my parents, with my younger brother, for whom I am a role model and an example in everything. I feel good here.

The fight Mark Miadzvedzeu (Belarus) vs. Urison Kokulbekov (Tajikistan) within the FFC-Selection: 5, which took place on December 12 in Moscow, ended with Mark's victory by submission in the 1st round. Submission is a situation in a fight when one of the opponents admits defeat. Mark Miadzvedzeu comments on this fight as follows:

- We had our own game plan for this fight; we worked it out in the most thorough way. Many thanks to my coach for that. My opponent is a good puncher: he works great with his legs and arms. My trick is to fight: I used it, and my opponent could not oppose anything. Only the first kick was a little off-plan.

Of course, I wanted to work in a stand, show a more spectacular fight. But it is very good that the fight was effective and without any major injuries. I quickly recovered, and I am ready to continue training even tomorrow.

After the fight, I was just overwhelmed with emotions. The congratulations I received were unexpected and, of course, insanely pleasant. Not only friends but also complete strangers congratulated me, many celebrities from Belarus also wrote words of support - I was really shocked!

I did not sleep all night; I tried to answer everyone and thank them. I hope that those who support me will see only spectacular fights with my participation in the future. I'm very excited about it now. I was extremely motivated for this fight, and after that unrealistic, simply unbelievable support that I received from Belarusian fans, I am 100% charged!

On the day of voting at the presidential elections in Belarus, Mark Miadzvedzeu was in Belarus. He decided to celebrate the Airborne Forces holiday with a trip to Brest, to his army brigade. In the evening of August 9, he returned home to Homel. The taxi, where Mark and his girlfriend were, could not drive along Savetskaya Street: there were traffic jams everywhere, the street is filled with people.

- At first, I didn't even understand what was happening. Then we got out of the car. And then they witnessed the harsh dispersal of civilians. In the following days, our family also went to the marches, and even the younger brother came with us.

Family is very important. My father has always had a very clear civil position that does not depend on the majority's opinion. It was from my father that, as a child, I learned about the white-red-white flag, about its history, about what symbols it carries. The father even hung out the white-red-white on the facade of the building where he worked, which is why all kinds of check-ups came to him later. So my decision to celebrate the victory with the white-red-white flag was not a spontaneous rush.

What does Mark Miadzvedzeu think about the Belarusian protest and its prospects?

- We, Belarusians, are peaceful people and our protests are peaceful. I saw with my own eyes how well people behaved during the processions; there were no drunks or hooligans. I even saw how people cleaned up the garbage so that everything was nice and tidy. For example, if we compare with Kyrgyzstan, this is a completely different story: there, the protesters seize the White House, and even in our country, they do not respond with violence to violence. Everything is different with us. We want understanding; we want to be heard.

Honestly, I don't know; I cannot yet predict what the wave of protests will eventually lead to. But still, I hope for the best. I want the authorities to stop the violence, to try to understand the people. I want a new life to begin in Belarus, where everything will be fine for everyone.

Friends of Mark Miadzvedzeu are worried whether his appearance in the ring with the white-red-white flag will entail undesirable consequences when he comes to Homel again. This act produced too powerful resonance in Belarus. And in light of those persecutions against white-red-white symbols, which are gaining in scope, the consequences can be expected. Mark replies to this as follows:

- I'm ready for this. I knew what I was going for. This is the minimum that I could do for my people. This is the minimum that I could do to support those athletes who have now sacrificed their careers and everything that they have strived for all their lives. Many have lost their Olympic licenses, scholarships, salaries. What should they do now? What to do? Many of them have families, and they had their oxygen cut off. I am very sorry that the world champion in kickboxing and Thai boxing, Aliaksei Kudzin, had such circumstances that he was forced to flee the country. I feel sorry for him and his family. By the way, among those who congratulated me on the victory was Aliaksei's wife.

I'm not going to impose my opinion on anyone. The white-red-white flag for me today is a symbol of peaceful protest. I don't want it to come to bloodshed. I am against violence, against cruelty towards the people. I want peace for my country - that's why I am doing this.