Igor Vovchanchyn

]
fightstyle=Kickboxing, Combat Sambo
wins=45
losses=9
draws=1
nocontest=1
ko=24
submissions=14|

Igor Yaroslavovich "Ice Cold" Vovchanchyn (Russian: Игорь Ярославович Вовчанчин. born August 6, 1973) is a retired Ukrainian mixed martial artist. He holds notable wins over Mark Kerr, Yuki Kondo, Gilbert Yvel, Kazushi Sakuraba, Valentijn Overeem, and Gary Goodridge.

Biography

Vovchanchyn was born in Zolochiv, Ukraine in 1973. Vovchanchyn has stated that during his teen years, he had an infamous temper among the people in his village that prompted them to ring a church bell every time he was in a bad mood so that others would be warned against being confronted by him.fact|date=May 2007

MMA career

Igor Vovchanchyn transitioned from a successful kickboxing career to MMA in 1995. He competed primarily in tournament-style events across the Ukraine, often fighting three or four times in one day. Often he is famed for being one of the few strictly stand-up fighters to successfully overcome grappling opponents. This was seen in the very first IAFC event in which he managed to defeat Adilson Lima; a Gracie Jiu Jitsu black belt who trained with Ryan Gracie. First ending the fight with a knockout :56 seconds into the fight, however Lima's corner Relson Gracie argued to the tournament organizers complaining that the kicks to a downed opponent were unfair and demanded an immediate rematch. Strangely enough the rematch was granted, and the fight began again with Lima being a more cautious fighter this time around. However the fight was stopped a second time as a result of a broken nose from a punch thrown by Vovchanchyn; ultimately ending the fight. He accumulated a 22-1-1 record before joining PRIDE Fighting Championship, including a 21-fight unbeaten streak.

His first opponent in PRIDE was Gary "Big Daddy" Goodridge who Igor defeated via TKO. Igor's unbeaten streak persisted until the finals of the 2000 PRIDE Open Weight Grand Prix, where he was defeated by Mark "The Hammer" Coleman by Submission (Strikes), ending his 30-fight winning streak.

Personal life

Igor is married and has one daughter.fact|date=May 2007

In a 2008 interview, Igor stated that he was retired from martial arts competition and is now a businessman. He mentions accumulated injuries as the cause of his retirement. [ [http://www.m1mixfight.com/info/interviews/2008/2/10/Igor-Vovchanchyn-exclusive-interview/ Igor Vovchanchyn in exclusive interview ] ]

Championships and accomplishments

*PRIDE World Grand Prix 2000 runner-up
*Mr. Strong Guy 1996 winner
*Ukrainian Octagon winner (1996)
*International Fighting Championship 1 winner (1996)
*AROC 3 winner (1997)
*Absolute Fighting Championship 3 winner (1997)
*World ValeTudo Championship 5 winner (1998)

Mixed martial arts record

MMArecordbox
wins=47
losses=9
draws=1
ko-wins=25
ko-losses=1
sub-wins=15
sub-losses=5
dec-wins=7
dec-losses=3
nc=1

Kick Boxing record

Russian Kick Boxing Champion60 Fights, 58 Wins, 2 Losses

Won World Kick Boxing/Martial Arts Championship in Moscow, 1995.

ee also

*List of male mixed martial artists

External links

* [http://www.sherdog.com/fightfinder/fightfinder.asp?fighterID=300 Sherdog stats, images and video interviews with Igor]

References