OF FIGHTERS AND FLAGS: COMBAT SPORTS GRAPPLE WITH THE RUSSIA-UKRAINE CONFLICT.

• Author: Joliet, Chelsea

INTRODUCTION

In late February 2022, the former Unified Heavyweight Boxing Champion and Olympic Gold Medalist from Ukraine posted a plea on his Instagram page: "I'm Wladimir Klitschko, (i) and I'm addressing the entire world to stop this war that Russia has started." (1)

That address was later included in a promotional video aimed at marketing the return of another famed Ukrainian boxer, Vasiliy Lomachenko. Lomachenko, a two-time Olympic gold medalist representing Ukraine, was set to defend his WBO inter-continental lightweight championship belt on October 29th of that year, following a nearly eight-month absence from competition. The match had originally been canceled at the onset of war, as Lomachenko opted to return home to Ukraine following the Russian invasion. In the promotional video, his explanation for returning is simple: "I have more responsibility for my family, for my country." (2)

The video, produced by his promoter Top Rank Boxing, was titled "Battle Lines: Lomachenko." The title is superimposed over a fluttering Ukrainian flag. The implication is clear: Lomachenko is a fighter for his country, in and out of the ring. He entered his October 29th title defense in Madison Square Garden against American contender Jamaine Ortiz. Despite the American venue and opposition, the crowd within the arena favored the Ukrainian, chanting "Loma" throughout the match. Lomachenko captured a unanimous decision victory and set up a future title unification bout with American champion Devin Haney The winner will be the undisputed world champion, the pinnacle achievement in professional boxing.

The experience of 2022 could not have been more different for Artem Vakhitov, a professional kickboxer from Russia. Champion of the lightheavyweight division of the Netherlands-based GLORY Kickboxing organization, Vakhitov found himself stripped of his belt and out of a job shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Unable to compete in the largest organization in his sport, Vakhitov considered moving to Singapore to compete for a rival brand, or even to switch sports entirely and try his hand at Mixed Martial Arts. Eventually, Vakhitov gave up on competing internationally altogether, signing instead with an obscure Russian promotion called Muay Thai Factory.

Despite the obvious obstacles, Vakhitov's difficulties were perhaps alleviated by his previous success at the highest level of his sport. Many other Russian fighters across the combat sports world were not so lucky. GLORY terminated the contracts of all Russian fighters, citing "obstacles" in arranging bouts with Russian competitors as athletes withdrew from matches, refusing to fight them. (3)

The outbreak of war between Ukraine and Russia has clearly shifted the terrain of professional combat sports. Unlike most other international sports, combat sports offer a venue where professional athletes contract exclusively with privately-owned leagues and promotions but still fight in hyper-nationalistic contexts, representing flag and country. If the Olympics present a model of sports diplomacy, international combat sports present a model of private market competition in which nationalist sentiments, discourses, and symbolism are mobilized. Other international athletic competition outside of combat sports is generally done either via private club competitions, in which team affiliation supersedes nationalism, such as football's UEFA Champions League, (ii) or via state-sanctioned teams, as with FIFAs World Cup, in which competition is explicitly representative of state nationalism. (iii) Unlike these other forms of international athletic competition, combat sports retain ultra-nationalism in presenting and marketing individual fighters as part of a privately-owned product, blurring the distinctions between national competition and private entertainment. Additionally, combat sports lend more intuitively towards conflations between violent full-contact competition for prize money and war. For example, in 2022, retired U.S. Lt. General Mark Herding explicitly compared the Russia-Ukraine conflict to a "heavyweight boxing match," a "slugfest" in which a "knockout blow" was being sought. (4) Fighting for profit under a flag in the ring becomes akin to fighting for that flag on the battlefield, rendering both the "continuation of policy by other means." (5)

Since the outbreak of war, many Russian athletes have been banned from international competition or have faced promotional sanctions, in the form of belt stripping, contract voidance, and informal boycotts. Further complicating the picture, some organizations have created special allowances for Russian nationals to continue to compete, often with caveats, such as fighting under a different flag, as with boxer Artur Beterbiev. Meanwhile, Ukrainian athletes have been promoted by these private entities as nationalist heroes--fighting in the ring becomes a parallel to fighting on the battlefield. Are these bans, exceptions, and promotional policies a reflection of market forces (viewership won and lost), or is the disproportionate repudiation of Russian athletes a reflection of heightened moral signaling?

We begin by examining the literature on sport as foreign policy. We then work to situate combat sports within that paradigm in order to examine the shift from Cold War-era international diplomacy towards privatized market models of competition. This will allow us to consider the persistence of Nationalism in combat sports through this shifting paradigm and identify the role of Nationalism in driving policies such as athlete bans, boycotts, and sanctions. We next discuss the conflict between the market-based incentives of privatized international competition and Nationalism, as Nationalism appears to be driving policies that may act counter to market interests, especially regarding audience alignment and potential international market growth. Uniting these themes, we present a case study of Russian professional boxing champion Artur Beterbiev and the impact of the Russia-Ukraine conflict on his career. We conclude with the complicated new role of individual fighters as national symbols and the implications of this trend should it continue.

SPORT AS FOREIGN POLICY

International sporting events are a subset of foreign policy, and more broadly a form of soft power. States attempt to achieve a more favorable image through attraction, rather than using military force or economic sanctions. (6) While traditional definitions focus on communication between state actors and foreign publics, more recently roles of private citizens and businesses have been noted transmitters of national image. (7) Within Olympic sporting events, geopolitics images through displays of nationalism, boycotts, and exclusions, as well as calls for diplomacy and peace. (8)

In the 1960s, states began to recognize that international sport, and specifically the Olympics, represented an opportunity not only for diplomacy, but also for economic advancement. As television broadcasts of the Games became more common, private sponsorships increased.

Over time, international combat sports have shifted from state-affiliated Olympic-oriented competition to private sector leagues and promoters. These...