Notorious killer rapist MMA fighter dubbed ‘Mad Max’ freed from jail by Putin to boost tyrant’s failing Ukraine invasion
Notorious killer rapist MMA fighter dubbed ‘Mad Max’ freed from jail by Putin to boost tyrant’s failing Ukraine invasion
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A NOTORIOUS Russian MMA fighter and convicted killer rapist has been freed from jail to bolster Putin’s struggling war effort in Ukraine. Maxim “Mad Max” Novoselov, 51, a former captain of the Russian National Combat Sambo team, was serving a five-year sentence for kidnapping, beating, and raping an 18-year-old girl.
![[MMA fighter Maxim Novoselov behind a chain-link fence.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/rapist-mma-fighter-maxim-mad-967589564.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
His early release was granted at an unknown date by Vlad himself. He is now back at military training camps, drilling Russian troops, including elite paratroopers, for combat. Novoselov, whose nickname stems from his “unbridled behaviour in the ring,” became a celebrity in Russia through MTV appearances and by training Moscow’s elite.
![[Group photo of Maxim Novoselov and other soldiers.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/f4fb1672-a95b-4491-bead-f92a1d4da9a4.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
His latest role sees him rubbing shoulders with Putin’s inner circle, including Major General Apti Alaudinov, the Chechen special forces commander and key figure in Russian war propaganda. Only the Kremlin leader has the power to cut sentences for serious criminals, and Novoselov was originally due for release in December 2027.
![[A muscular man holding a machine gun.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/rapist-mma-fighter-maxim-mad-967589556.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
His criminal history is as brutal as his fighting style — convicted of murder in 1993, he spent 14 years behind bars, reportedly participating in underground fights in jail. Following his release, he moved to Japan, where he became a popular MMA fighter, only to be jailed again in Russia for drug offences in 2014.
![[A convicted rapist and MMA fighter, Maxim Novoselov, in military uniform, holding a rifle in a damaged building.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/62e80219-21fa-43f1-818a-afa52720b230.jpg?strip=all&w=929)
