One of Russia’s most popular rappers has agreed to fight an MMA champ for GBP 14.4 million.

Alisher Tagirovich Morgenshtern, 23, better known as Morgenshtern, is a Russian rapper, record producer, songwriter and former full-time YouTuber.

The suggestion that the rapper get in the ring with the ex-Bellator champion Alexander Shlemenko came after the two criticised each other online.

Morgenshtern, who often includes uncensored words in the text of his musical hits, had called for a ban on MMA fights because they are a bad example for children.

In response, Shlemenko noted the comments were being made by a man who had the sign of the beast – 666 – tattooed on his face.

He said: “He wants to ban MMA because it will be easier for him to promote his marginal values.”

The MMA star added: “We are expected to sit still and keep quiet about the way the ‘three of six’ guy sings about “sucking”, “sucking” and again “sucking”.

“I am actually not indifferent to the future of our children, in addition as a trainer, I also work with children.

“Looking at him, I realized that he is just a devil. The devil Morgenshtern is listened to by the children I train, and I have explained to them who he really is.”

When there are growing calls for the pair to settle their argument in the ring, Morgenshtern, who has more than 7.3 million followers on Instagram, has now announced that he is ready to fight the MMA star.

He said: ”I really appreciate my head, and this fight requires such a lot of money to persuade me to continue to agree to be stupid. Give me USD 20 million (14.4 million GBP) and things will work out. For this money, I’m not afraid to get (beaten) by him .”

According to the news website MK.RU, the name Morgenshtern in the world of mixed martial arts has appeared in recent months almost more often than the name of Khabib Nurmagomedov.

It is not known yet what the next step is and whether the meeting in the ring will now go ahead.