Right-wing extremists are harnessing the popularity of mixed martial arts to draw angry young men into their ideology, and train them for political violence. MMA’s mix of larger-than-life personalities and ultraviolence has made it an entertainment juggernaut, widely claimed to be the fastest growing sport in the world. But there’s a dark undercurrent to this 21st century bloodsport, in the form of its small but dangerous far-right fringe. Over the past decade, right-wing extremists have carved out their own pockets within mixed martial arts, seeking to harness the sport’s appeal to draw people into their ideology, while training right-wing radicals with fighting skills they can put to use on the streets. (…) In Europe, especially, white supremacist MMA networks – built around explicitly white power brands, tournaments and gyms – have become an entrenched presence on the right-wing extremist scene, with their tournaments a regular fixture at major far-right gatherings. Meanwhile, the scene has spawned a new model of far-right activism that’s proven highly influential, inspiring imitators from the US to Australia. “There is a significant amount of far-right influence and neo-Nazi organisations and fascist fight clubs that are taking advantage and weaponising the sport, and we see this on an international scale,” said Karim Zidan, a journalist who writes for MMA blog Bloody Elbow. The key player in the world of far-right MMA is White Rex. Founded in 2008 as a far-right clothing label by the Russian neo-Nazi hooligan Denis Kapustin, widely known by his pseudonym Denis Nikitin, White Rex began organising white-only MMA tournaments in 2011. Starting out in Russia, Nikitin soon began holding these elsewhere in Europe, building networks with extremists across the Continent and cementing his status as a key figure in the militant radical right.
via vice: Neo-Nazi Fight Clubs: How the Far-Right Uses MMA to Spread Hate