Olimpbet Wins Second Hardcore Case as $9.73M Claim Fails

The latest defendant is HFC Media, the legal entity behind the bare-knuckle fighting promotion Hardcore FC. SportClan reported the outcome on November 12, citing arbitration case No. A40-91589/2025.

The full written decision was not yet available. The court’s reasons for rejecting the counterclaim therefore remain unclear.

Nearly $8.7M of the Claim Came From Advertising

HFC Media’s demands followed a sponsorship agreement dated April 24, 2023. Most of the disputed amount concerned advertising materials the company said it had published.

The counterclaim included:

• $8.68 million for advertising publication services;
• $581,000 in expenses related to terminating the contract;
• $435,000 in alleged unpaid contractual obligations.

Penalties and interest accounted for the remaining amount. Advertising represented approximately 89.1% of the entire $9.73 million counterclaim, according to 15M’s calculation.

All USD equivalents in this article use the Central Bank of Russia’s November 12 rate of 82.6617 per dollar for comparison.

The Other Dispute Changed Course on October 27

The previous victory came through an appeal involving Media Solutions, a separate company that handled advertising for Hardcore MMA. In May, a Moscow court had ordered Olimpbet to pay Media Solutions approximately $7.85 million. The appellate court overturned that ruling on October 27.

Media Solutions’ counterclaims were rejected, and the company was instead ordered to pay Olimpbet approximately $603,000, Bookmaker Ratings reported.

Both cases arose after the bookmaker’s advertising relationship with Hardcore projects broke down in late 2024.

Both Counterclaims Have Now Been Rejected

In September, 15M examined the two lawsuits and calculated that the combined counterclaims were 13.7 times larger than Olimpbet’s original demands. The position has changed since then.

The two Hardcore-linked companies sought approximately $17.66 million combined. Courts have now rejected both sets of counterclaims. Olimpbet’s original claims, worth about $1.29 million combined, have been granted.

Those figures describe court claims and rulings, not confirmed cash payments.

The November Judgment Is Still Unpublished

Hardcore founder Anatoly Sulyanov had expected a different outcome. Speaking in September, he said the legal disputes would eventually finish in the promotion’s favor, according to Sports.ru.

The November ruling is still at the first-instance stage. HFC Media can appeal. The written judgment has not been published, so the court’s assessment of the advertising claims remains unknown.

For affiliates and media contractors, the disputed amounts point to a specific contract issue. The price of an initial advertising placement and payment for subsequent publication or reuse of fight content need separate terms. Both Hardcore-linked companies sought substantial sums for advertising or video publication after their agreements with Olimpbet ended.