When The Russian 'Popeye' Tapped Out After Just Three Minutes Of MMA Fight

It's fair to say that things did not go well for the man with the Synthol-boosted biceps.

Twenty-three-year-old Kirill Tereshin fought blogger Oleg Mongol at a gym in Abakan in Russia back in October 2019.

It was a simpler time back then, wasn't it?

Although he got a few punches in early on, Kirill was knocked down and ended up tapping out in just three minutes.

He had previously faced off against Russian slapping champ Vasiliy 'The Dumpling' Kamotskiy, where he was knocked to the ground after one hit.

Poor Popeye, no wonder his budding MMA career never really took off.

He's previously explained at least partially why he decided to inject himself with the Synthol to develop his gigantic arms.

Speaking in August 2019, Kirill said: "I used to go to the gym for two years before being called up for military service. In the army, I was worried that I would have a hard time and lose weight so I decided to try Synthol oil.

"When I finished military service, I began to transform myself and did everything at home. My mum was very worried about what I was doing, but we are okay now that she knows Synthol can be removed.

"In the beginning, I wanted to inject Synthol oil into other parts of my body, but then the problems started and I stopped using it."

When he first hit headlines in 2017, Kirill was told by doctors that using the oil could cause pulmonary embolisms, nerve damage, infections, sclerosing lymphogranuloma, strokes and oil-filled cysts or ulcers in the muscle - but their warnings went unheeded. Kirill continued to inject, pumping his biceps up to an eye-watering 62 centimetres (24 inch) in diameter.

However, he now says the injections caused tissue fibrosis which then resulted in necrosis.

Back then, he said: "At the moment, my arms are in a bad state and are reddening.

"I have launched a fundraiser to see a doctor in Europe for treatment that costs around 3 million RUB (£37,760).

"I would love to go to the UK for it, but the most important thing is that the treatment is successful."

Now, in 2021, it seems as if he's heeded the warnings and plans to have more surgery to remove some of the hardened jellies, having already undergone two procedures.

His surgeon Dmitry Melnikov warned: "The risk of complications, in this case, is very high.

"But inaction will not help the patient.

"A toxic substance in the body long term can complicate the kidneys and lead to death."

Tereshin himself said: "Soon I will have a very complicated, hard third surgery. I don't know how it'll end up."

He went on to admit that he made a mistake when he chose to inject his biceps, confessing: "I bulked up my arms when I was 20 due to my own stupidity.

"I did not think about the consequences.

"I am very lucky that there are doctors who took me on,"

He continued: "God forbid something happens to this nerve and I cannot move my arm.

"I really worry about this. I am very afraid... I should have thought about this earlier, I know. I blame myself, I know I'm guilty."

Speaking after carrying out Kirill's first surgery, Melnikov said: "Petroleum jelly saturates the muscles, under skin tissues and the skin itself.

"All that has to be removed, but we need to keep the vein, nerves and other functions of the limb."

He added: "Petroleum jelly is not designed for injection, only external application.

"Kirill injected about three litres into each arm. It saturated the muscle tissues, blocked blood flow.

"As a result, the tissue dies and gets replaced with a scar which is as tough as a tree, you can even knock on it and hear the usual sound. We have removed all this.

"He had a high fever, strong pain, and weakness."