Bulgarian MMA Champ Stabbing Suspect Kept in Jail

People are seen waiting Thursday outside the central Court building in the capital Sofia for Dampela's hearing. Photo by BGNES

The main suspect in the stabbing of Bulgarian MMA fighter, Blagoi Ivanov AKA Bagata, - 23-year-old D.S. known as Dampela, is going to be kept under permanent detention.

The Thursday rule of the Sofia Court of Appeals upheld the one of the lowest instance.

Dampela is charged with attempted murder. He has a criminal record for extortion, drug possession and distribution, and fake car registration documents.

On Sunday, February 7, Ivanov and two of his friends had just occupied their places in a bar on Graf Ignatiev Str., in downtown Sofia, when a group of 8 persons armed with bats and knives allegedly came in and attacked them.

At 5.10 am police came in to find the attackers escaped and Ivanov with a deep stab wound under his armpit.

Ivanov's two companions have suffered only light wounds and bruises and have been discharged by the hospital.

Many of the witnesses of the brawl were inebriated at the time, which has made the work of police harder.

Interior Minister, Tsvetan Tsvetanov, declared this is a purely criminal case triggered by drunken rage.

On Thursday, Dampela's defense lawyer Radost Karaivanova commented before journalists that the investigation is collecting evidence only in support of the prosecution's case and skips questioning certain witnesses on purpose.

According to Karaivanova, this has been a drunken fight initiated by Bagata, who had been pestering her client and slapped him on the face in the presence of a number of people.

Friends and relatives of the champion, however, insist he had been injured while attempting to break a fight.

Karaivanova further rejected information that Dampela had bragged in public about stabbing the celebrity competitor as the prosecutor claims, and says he only learned about Bagata's injuries from the internet. Upon realizing it, he went on his own to the police to explain what happened.

It was reported meanwhile that Bagata has been upgraded from critical to stable condition and has regained consciousness in the Sofia emergency Pirogov hospital, but his life is still in danger.

Blagoi Ivanov aka Bagata won the gold medal in the 2008 World Sambo Championships and the bronze in the 2006 world contest. He is known in Bulgaria for organizing and participating in so-called "free fights," in which the audience bet on the outcome.

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