MMA fighter twin brothers detained in brutal Phuket home invasion case

Renowned MMA fighter Khusein Askhabov and his identical twin brother Khasan have been detained in connection to a violent home invasion at a Cherng Talay resort in Phuket, where an Italian resident was robbed of personal items exceeding 12 million baht.

The Italian victim was discovered by resort staff, bound and severely beaten, allegedly by the MMA brothers. His face, torso, and legs were covered in contusions. CCTV footage revealed the victim’s escape from his villa, still restrained, to the resort’s parking area.

The official arrest confirmation came last Tuesday, September 5, from Cherng Talay Police Superintendent, Police Colonel Chalermchai Hersawat. Despite the arrests of the MMA fighter and his brother, neither the police nor any other local authorities have publicly acknowledged the incident.

The 28 year old Askhabov twins, born in Grozny, Chechnya, are no strangers to the limelight. Khusein, known in the MMA world as Nohcho, has a significant following. Despite ESPN listing his training base as Tiger Muay Thai in Chalong, he is believed to be training at a Muay Thai camp in Cherng Talay.

The MMA brothers were apprehended under arrest warrants issued by the Phuket Provincial Court on September 4. The charges levied against the brothers fall under the Prevention and Suppression of Torture and Enforced Disappearance Act B.E. 2565 (2022), which includes offences such as torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, and enforced disappearance.

The victim reported that the assault began late at night on September 3, when three unfamiliar men broke into his villa. They bound, gagged, and blindfolded him before interrogating him about the location of a drive containing a cryptocurrency ledger. When the victim denied possessing such a drive, a 30-minute beating ensued.

Stolen items included the victim’s passport, his ADIB bank (Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank) debit card, and passwords for his phones, safe, and computers. The assailants also took 40,000 euros in cash (approximately 1.5 million baht) from the safe and 16,000 euros (over 600,000 baht) using the stolen debit card in Dubai.

The three assailants, who are believed to have returned to Kazakhstan, were confirmed to have departed Phuket International Airport for Dubai on Flight EK397 at 6.58am on September 4.

The victim stated that he first encountered the MMA fighter Askhabov and his twin brother at a beach cafe in Cherng Talay a year ago but had never met the three Kazakh attackers prior to the incident.

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