Manslaughter MMA champ Mirzaev to be released on bail

A Moscow court has decided to release on bail former MMA champion Rasul Mirzaev, accused of the involuntary manslaughter of a 19-year-old student.

The bail amount the athlete needs to pay equals 100.000 rubles (just over US$3.000), which is significantly less than the sum of 3 million rubles, offered by Mirzaev’s representatives to the court earlier.  "The grounds for further detention of Rasul Mirzaev have ceased to exist," Judge Yulia Novichkova is cited by Interfax news agency as saying.The fighter will be free to go home as soon as the money appears on the court’s bank account.The prosecutor's office and the parents of the deceased Ivan Agafonov had demanded Mirzaev be remanded in custody for another three months. The tragic incident happened in central Moscow on August 13, 2011, attracting huge public interest. Agafonov tried flirting with Mirzaev’s girlfriend in front the Garage nightclub, which led to an argument. The student kept provoking the fighter, who delivered just one blow to the young man. But it was so powerful that Angafonov landed a meter away and his head struck the pavement.Doctors fought for his life for four days, but the student passed away without regaining consciousness.Mirzaev voluntarily presented himself to the police, confessing to hitting Agafonov, and was detained.The 25-year-old was originally accused of "intentional infliction of grievous bodily harm, resulting in the death of the victim." But last month the charge against was changed to “causing death by negligence” and the maximum penalty the athlete, known as “the Black Tiger”, can receive is two years in prison.Rasul Mirzaev claimed the MMA Lightweight Champion’s belt in June 2011 this year, knocking out Masanori Kanehara of Japan.