Edgars Buļs on Fightball for €5,000 and the Battle for Riga

On January 29th, “Arēna Rīga” will host Latvia’s very first fightball show and this season’s second battle for the city between “Rīgas Zeļļi” and “VEF Rīga”. 

The Latvian Cup semifinal match is set to start at 20:00 and will have a prelude Latvia has never seen before — a fightball match between Team “BAZARA 0” and Team “Latvian Wrestling Federation”. This event will be livestreamed for free on SlotsFighter.com!

The fightball match will begin at 18:00 as a warm-up to the main event. It promises some of the most intense moments this unique format of basketball allows, with a roster of star-studded athletes and public figures, including Latvia’s very first in PFL, Aleksandrs Čižovs, Kristaps Zutis, musician and fighter Deniss Stepanovs, Daņiks Vesņenoks, Olympic wrestler Armands Zvirbulis, and more. 

The centerpiece of the evening, “Rīgas Zeļļi” vs. “VEF Rīga”, is the final berth decided over a two-game aggregate score. In their previous face-off this season, “Zeļļi” narrowly clinched a 91:88 victory — however, it must be noted that “VEF” have been back-to-back winners in the revamped Latvian Cup since the 2021/2022 season. This fight is critical for establishing momentum ahead of the decisive rematch on February 4th.

The 101 of Fightball

Fightball is a hybrid sport that strips basketball down to gladiator streetball. 

Matches are usually short; the shot clock is aggressive, forcing quick decision-making. Points are scored very simply: 1 point is scored for every shot in the net. 

The main goal, just like in classic basketball, is to simply throw the ball in the basket. The game will last four quarters of six minutes each. A team will consist of ten (10) players and five (5) players shall remain on the court at once. There is a constant change of players, like in ice hockey. Besides, it’s in the name — fightball encourages physicality, making it much more combative than traditional basketball. While outright wrestling moves or intentional harm are penalized, players are allowed significant body contact, but brute strength alone won’t guarantee success!

Standard basketball fouls apply, but the threshold for physical contact is much higher. Excessive roughness or unsportsmanlike conduct can lead to penalty possessions or disqualifications.

Spins

50

Bonus

175% / €900

Edgars Buļs: “If we do it, we’ll do it until the end”

Edgars Buļs, a Latvian sports manager with over 20 years of experience in the industry, currently serves as the president of the basketball club “Rīgas Zeļļi” he founded in 2023. He’s the man behind all that hot pink!

Under Buļs’ leadership, the “Zeļļi” team has rapidly risen in Latvian basketball and seems eager to continue to do so. Now, Edgars is bringing fightball to “Arēna Rīga”. We discussed the “why” behind this move — and here’s what he had to say!

When was the first time fightball spoke to you?

We waited for “VEF Rīga” to win their first game, and then waited to win our own first game — which we did. Fightball was my idea. I approached Daņiks [Vesņenoks] and Hassan [Mezhiev] back in November. They liked it, so we started working on it.

I had seen videos on the internet where strong men were trying to score more points outside the usual basketball rules. I know they did something like this in Tukums, with Zutis and Kambala. So it was in there, somewhere in my head, this format of basketball. 

I really wanted to connect the “Rīgas Zeļļi” team with a combat sports audience. “Zeļļi” have their own basketball audience, and there is a desire to expand it. The initial idea was to throw a fight show in “Arēna Rīga” before our game, but there could — and would — be purely technical problems with setting up and taking down the ring. The ring is right in the middle of the arena, and tables are usually very close to it. It would take about three hours to get it all done in a realistic timeframe. 

That’s why we came up with a solution — fightball. Nothing has to be rearranged, but you can still get that fight in. And it all ended up making sense linguistically, too; it’s going to be the “Battle for Rīga”, double entendre.

Has fightball been played this publicly in Latvia before? It seems like, at this kind of scale, it’s a first. 

It’s not going to be the first fightball match ever, but certainly the biggest, loudest and boldest. This is going to be a real show. If we, the “Zeļļi” team, do something, we’ll do it until the end and bring it to arenas. We’re bringing fightball to “Arēna Rīga”.

Is there a desire to promote fightball further? This match is warming up the Latvian Cup semifinal, which is huge for a generally unseen sport.

Yes. If this takes off, it could easily become a regular event. For example, four teams would take part, instead of just two — two semifinals and a final. A decent number of Latvian rugby players were also interested and wanted to take part, but we’ll leave that for next time. 

Who will referee the fightball match?

There will be two referees, one for basketball and one for wrestling. Anastasija Grigorjeva, a wrestler, four-time European champion with two bronze medals at the World Championships, will be one of the referees.

Pure gladiator vibes. Would you like to see “VEF Rīga” against “Rīgas Zeļļi” in a fightball match? Who do you think would win there?

Maybe I’d even like to see that, though it’s impossible. There is definitely potential on the “Zeļļi” tesm, I even know who specifically; a guy from Madona, Zigmārs Raimo. He’s kind of stocky, strong body, built for it. He could be good! But who’d win is a good question. “VEF Rīga” also have good potential fightballers. No one would have it easy in that match.

The Pioneers of Latvian Fightball

What a roster! Here’s the full list of both participating teams:

Fightball Show Rules

1. Fightball is a form of basketball in which players can move without dribbling and in which a number of techniques prohibited in traditional basketball are allowed (pushing, pulling, shoving, holding, wrestling, power techniques, etc.) — however, open strikes and actions that can seriously injure an athlete are prohibited.
2. Due to the fact that fightball is being played by combat sports athletes, the treshold of pain is higher and sensitivity is lower than standard.
3. The total game time is 4 x 6 minutes. 
4. Each shot scored is worth 1 point, regardless of the distance to the hoop.
5. The game starts with a shot; the teams stand on their respective side at the time of the shot. The shot can be made in either direction.
6. The game shall be played without court restrictions, but if the ball leaves the basketball court and enters an area where any non-players are present, there shall be no active contest for the ball. In such a case, the ball shall be taken by whoever has first access to it. The opponents shall allow the ball carrier to return to the safe area and the game may continue.
7. At the sound of the referee’s whistle, the game stops and the ball is returned to the referee.
8. Leg passes are prohibited. In such a case, the ball must be returned to the opposing team and the game continues immediately, without the referee’s signal.
9. The referee may stop the game if a fight for the ball lasts longer than 10 seconds on the ground. If the referee has blown their whistle, the ball must be handed over to the referee immediately.
10. Upon receiving the ball, the referee shall throw it into a clear space on the court and signal by blowing the whistle that play is resumed.
11. After a scored shot, the game shall immediately resume.
12. There are 5 players present on the court from each team. There are 5 substitutes per team. There are 10 players per team.
13. Players make a player change when they run off the court and back to their team. The same number of players run back into position as the number that runs off to the sidelines.
14. There is no limit to the number of player changes.

Spins

400

Bonus

150% / 600€