Putin, an Honorary President of the International Sambo Federation (FIAS), took part in the awarding ceremony before greeting the event’s participants and hosts.

"Today we’ve seen some really tough guys here," the 64-year-old said.

"They’ve shown us all the elements that actually make martial arts popular - various striking techniques, spectacular mat wrestling, brilliant throws, but most importantly, they've demonstrated courage, fortitude and hardiness.

"I want to thank them for that."

Spectators were treated to 10 professional combat sambo fights, each of which consisted of three five-minute rounds.

Five-time combat sambo world champion Vyacheslav Vasilevsky of Russia and Brazil's Luis Sergio Melo Junior faced each other in the final of the men’s under-84 kilograms category.

Vasilevsky prevailed in what was dubbed the "Fight of the Night".

Russia went on to beat the rest-of-the-world side 7-3 in the team competition.

Putin was joined at the event by the likes of Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and FIAS President Vasily Shestakov.

Others present included Sochi Mayor Anatoly Pakhomov, Russian Sports Minister Pavel Kolobkov and European Sambo Federation President Sergey Eliseev.

Sambo was one of 14 sports to miss out on provisional recognition from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in December as the International Cheer Union and International Federation of Muaythai Amateur were both accepted.

Shestakov told insidethegames later that same month that IOC recognition is the only step the FIAS desires for the time being.

In October, Putin called for "every effort" to be made to have sambo recognised by the IOC while addressing a session of the Council for the Development of Physical Culture and Sport.

Russia is very much the dominant force in sambo, which originated in the Soviet Union in the 1920s when soldiers of the then-Soviet Army developed their own hand-to-hand combat technique.