MOSCOW, May 25. /TASS/. Russian footballer Artyom Dzyuba is switching sports, as fans could soon see him in the mixed martial arts (MMA) octagon, Head of Fight Nights promotion company Kamil Gadzhiyev disclosed to TASS on Monday.

TASS reported earlier that Dzyuba opted to part ways with Russian league’s top-tier football club Akron, but hinted that his sports career was not finished.

"We are already in talks with Artyom Dzyuba," Gadzhiyev told TASS.

The Russian football player was reported to have sparred several times with UFC (the Ultimate Fighting Championship) fighter Alexander Volkov, aka Drago (40 wins, 11 defeats). He also trained with former undisputed boxing world champion Roy Jones Jr.

Dzyuba, 37, is the all-time leading scorer in Russian national team history, with 31 goals in 56 match appearances.

He is the former captain of the Russian national football team, and joined Zenit St. Petersburg FC in 2015, where he won four national championships to go with four titles at the Super Cup of Russia. He left the club in 2022. Most recently, he played as a striker for Russian Premier League’s football club Akron Togliatti.

Dzyuba has also played for FC Spartak Moscow, FC Lokomotiv Moscow, the Tomsk-based FC Tom, FC Rostov, FC Arsenal Tula, and Turkish FC Adana Demirspor.