Wrestler With Dust
by M. Orgil & Thantcyn Nyan
Wrestlers B.Joronzonbold (in red top), ranked Elephant, and D.Lhagvadorj (in blue top), ranked Falcon, made it to the 7th level of the wrestling competition, for the 70 year anniversary of Gov-Altai. Joronzonbold ducked under Lhagvadorj’s armpit, went behind him, and secured a firm grip on Lhagvadorj’s shorts, and hoisted him off the ground. Lhagvadorj reached out and gripped onto the nearby zasuul (trainer), to keep from getting tossed onto the ground. Joronzonbold maintained his position, and complained to the judges nearby, and attempted to throw Lhagvadorj, who was still holding on to his zasuul, a second time. Instead of ordering Lhagvadorj to let go of his zasuul, the judges separated the two wrestlers, and after some deliberation, restarted the action. Lhagvadorj was given the very advantageous position of a full body-lock with double-under-hooks, which he used to quickly dispatch of Joronzonbold.
The match was photographed by American tourist, Thantcyn Nyan and his camera. This guy was a teacher from Texas, and once fought in the K-1 ring. He trained with Mongolian wrestlers who were training for Naadam. He said he lost all of his matches, and that Mongolian wrestlers are very powerful. He couldn’t show his main techniques because Mongolian wrestling rules prohibit the wrestlers’ knees from touching the ground.
Lhagvadorj won the competition by ‘other factors’, and became the champion at the Anniversary Festival for the Gov-Altai Province, beating his cousin’s son, Ganbaatar, ranked Garuda, in the next and final match.
Behind the Scenes
The above article, Wrestler With Dust, along with my pictures, was published in the TAVAN TSAGARIG (5 Rings), Mongolia’s largest daily sports newspaper, on September 2, 2010. My friend Ugi translated it for me in English. I elaborated on her direct translation a little, in the first paragraph, to better describe the wrestling match, however I left the ‘awkwardness’ alone in the title (Ugi insisted Wrestler With Dust was not as harsh, and did not translate into the colloquial Dirty Wrestler) and the rest of the article for comedic effect!
It was super-hard for me to get this story, which is only half-of the story, published, even though every newspaperman I showed it to seemed interested. Wrestlers are celebrities in Mongolia, and many are members of the Mongolian Parliament. One reporter told me the Lamas and the wrestlers control Mongolia! M. Orgil green-lighted the story after he found out that I trained with some of the wrestlers in Altai City, before Naadam. I guess he figured I’d be used to getting my ass kicked by hulking Mongols!
The juicy scandalous part of the story that got left out was, it seemed in retrospect that every official there was in on the fix! D.Lhagvadorj’s big brother, Ozaki Ama Byambadorj (bottom right hand corner), who was in attendance, is a famous sumo wrestler in Japan, and a national hero in Mongolia! They are also natives of the Gov-Altai Province. Earlier that day, Byambadorj was paraded around the stadium, and the locals greeted him like a saint; they stampeded to have him kiss their babies, and lay his meaty paws on their cheeks!
When Lhagvadorj first got into trouble, he started shouting for his zasuul, who rushed to within grabbing range. While I was on the field, snapping pictures, I was yelling at a nearby judge, about what was happening, but he just gave me a smile and waved me off. However, I didn’t know, until Orgil told me, that Ganbaatar, was also a relative of Lhagvadorj. It made sense now, but I was puzzled as to why Ganbaatar, who was one of the largest guys there, was consistently matched with some of the smallest wrestlers, during the two days. I am surprised none of the spectators said a word, because a lot of money was changing hands, especially for the last rounds. It seemed Lhagvadorj’s family and the rest of ‘the insiders’ had a nice payday!
FINALLY, I never claimed that I ‘fought in the K-1 ring’. Orgil didn’t speak English, and I knew only a handful of Mongolian. I told him I trained in MMA, which included several disciplines: punching, kicking, wrestling, jujitsu, and judo. UFC’s a food corporation here, and they’ve never heard of Pride. Somehow, in my description of ‘mixed-fighting’ K-1 popped up, and Orgil’s eyes lit up, and that’s how I became a K-1 fighter! 