| 1 | !!Appeared in RINGS Japan |
| 2 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rings_russia_3.png]] |
| 3 | [[caption-width-right:350:From Russia With Leglocks]] |
| 4 | !!!Bazigit Atajev |
| 5 | -->''"While most RING Russia members were experts in choking and stretching people out, Bazigit Atajev preferred to punch and kick them in the f'n' head. A sanshou champion found by Wrestling/VolkHan (probably in some Siberian fighting pit), Atajev was knocking people out with spinning kicks and winning gold medals years before Cung Le came to recognition. According to his Japanese promoters, he broke skulls and legs like we break promises and ended every one of his sanshou matches by KO. Not even the ground was a weakness for him, as he got subs wins with the same ease and went to outgrapple one of the best Japanese grappler of his time, the mighty Wrestling/TsuyoshiKohsaka."'' |
| 6 | -->-- Reddit user [=DaShoota=] |
| 7 | |
| 8 | * TheAce: In Chinese Sanshou. |
| 9 | * TheApprentice: To Wrestling/VolkHan and Gusein Magomaev. |
| 10 | * BewareTheQuietOnes: Was not much of a talker outside of the ring, but was a beast of a fighter in it. |
| 11 | * CarpetOfVirility |
| 12 | * DefeatingTheUndefeatable: His only loss in MMA was against Alistair Overeem during his original run. |
| 13 | * TheDreaded: Was billed as one who crushed other fighters’ skulls and broke legs regularly and was dubbed "Hakaishin" ("[[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast The God of Destruction]]") for it. While he didn’t actually do any of those things, he was a freaking good fighter, he dominated a IAFC tournament similar to Mikhail Ilyukhin, destroyed everyone put in front of him in RINGS and even when he lost (against Alistair Overeem and Remy Bonjasky) he still looked good and never made it easy. His billing arguably worked too well if his fight schedule is any indication. |
| 14 | * HeroKiller: He beat Wrestling/TsuyoshiKohsaka by majority decision. |
| 15 | * HuskyRusskie: Though he is also of Kumyk heritage. |
| 16 | * ICouldaBeenAContender: One of the best fighters to come out of Russian Top Team and if his nicknames were any indication, Wrestling/VolkHan’s potential successor and even used his entrance theme for a time. Unfortunately due to an irregular fight schedule, stomach illness (in the case of his cancelled fight with Gilbert Yvel) and speculation that most promotions didn’t book him because they found [[FlatCharacter his personality lacking]] or that [[TheDreaded he would just wreck the competition]], which killed off any chance to show his true potential in his prime. |
| 17 | * IKnowKarate: Knows UsefulNotes/{{Sambo}} as well as Chinese Sanshou (or Sanda), in which he is a multiple time Dagestan, Russian National, European, International, and World Champion. He trained in Sanshou at the Five Directions Of The World wushu school. |
| 18 | * MasterOfAll: A Sanshou stylist who regularly KO’ed people with punches, spinning heel kicks, and ground-n-pound, and had sambo skills that let him outgrapple Wrestling/TsuyoshiKohsaka of all people. Apparently he was a sponge, noted by his teammates and coaches as one of the most natural students and fighters they'd ever seen. |
| 19 | * MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong |
| 20 | * ThePeteBest: The first Sanshou stylist to have major success in MMA long before guys like Cung Le (he even beat Cung Le in a Sanshou match) and even his fellow FDOTW trainees like Muslim Salikhov and Zabit Magomedsharipov debuted in MMA, he is not as well known due to fighting in RINGS’ last years and other small promotions with a loss in PRIDE against a young and not yet famous Alistair Overeem and sporadic appearances between 2003 to 2008 before retiring all together. |
| 21 | * PutOnTheBus: Had his last MMA fight in 2006 before he officially retired in 2008 after an unsuccessful UsefulNotes/{{Kickboxing}} bout with Remy Bonjasky. |
| 22 | ** TheBusCameBack: Returned to MMA in 2017 and now fights for the Professional Fighters League promotion. |
| 23 | * RedBaron: "Volk" (Russian for "Wolf" after his master, with some sites listing him as Volk Atajev), "Hakaishin" ("The God of Destruction"), "Senritsu no Russian Wolf" ("Russian Wolf of War"). |
| 24 | * SecretlyWealthy: Was apparently born to a wealthy, well-off family compared to most of his teammates. It has been speculated this contributed to his irregular fight schedule. |
| 25 | * SpectacularSpinning: He is well known for his spinning heel kicks thanks to his Sanshou background. |
| 26 | * SpellMyNameWithAnS: His name is also spelt as Bozigit Ataev by some sites. |
| 27 | * TheUnpronounceable |
| 28 | |
| 29 | !!!Suren Balachinsky |
| 30 | -->''"Balachinskiy was one of the best judokas and sambists of his generation, so much that he supposedly beat Fedor twice and scared the hell out of him in their trainings in Russia. He was so impressive in the tryouts that RINGS bookers threw him into the second King of Kings tournament without even a proper debut match, believing he would be a natural to the sport. However, sheer inexperience and an old knee injury crashed the project, and Balachinsky lost to Valentijn Overeem in a weird stoppage in the first round. It was the penultimate time we heard his name. His name surfaced again in 2004 when it was revealed that he was slated to fight Josh Barnett in PRIDE. Apparently, the Russian Top Team guys were expecting him to become Fedor's replacement after his departure of the team, and were interested in a "revenge" match between Fedor and him. Then, as you can guess, Balachinskiy got injured again and he disappeared, this time for good."'' |
| 31 | -->-- Reddit user [=DaShoota=] |
| 32 | |
| 33 | * ADayInTheLimelight: Qualified for the King of Kings tournament, was a heavy favourite to win... and then was unceremoniously eliminated by Valentijn Overeem. He left and never came back. |
| 34 | * AlwaysSomeoneBetter: He was said to be Fedor Emelianenko's superior in UsefulNotes/{{Sambo}}, with two clean wins over him in competition, as well as [[BadassOnPaper the highest rated rookie of RINGS Russia]]. That's why he had his debut placed in the King of Kings tournament while Fedor had to wait in the midcard of the Battle Genesis events. |
| 35 | * TheApprentice: To David Lvovich Rudman, Sergey Nikolaevich Lukashov, Renat Alekseevich Layshev, and Konstantin V. Troyanov. |
| 36 | * CoolTeacher: Was a trainer at the "Sambo-70" sports school in the Cheremushki District of Moscow. |
| 37 | * GameBreakingInjury: Fell to Overeem, supposedly, because one of the leg kicks from the Dutchman aggravated a knee injury. |
| 38 | * HuskyRusskie |
| 39 | * ICouldaBeenAContender: In 2004, he was chosen by Russian Top Team to face Fedor Emelianenko in PRIDE, as Fedor had just left the team in bad terms and they wanted him defeated badly. (The team's first option was Sergei Kharitonov, but he lacked success and also departed RTT shortly after). However, injuries got in his way again and he was forced to withdraw from the scheduled event. |
| 40 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/{{Sambo}}: Trained at the "Sambo-70" sports school in the Cheremushki District of Moscow. A three-time national champion, 2004 European silver medalist, one-time World Cup champion and two-time world champion in 1998 and 1999, with a bronze in 1997. He also knew UsefulNotes/{{Judo}} and was a multiple time Moscow State champion, with a bronze medal in 1998, and two silvers in 1999 and 2000 in the Russian national championships. |
| 41 | * MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong |
| 42 | * OldSoldier: Was once part of the Federal Tax Police Service of the Russian Federation (which replaced the KGB when it got dissolved) till its dissolution in 2003. After that he worked for the Federal Drug Control Service of Russia as a lieutenant colonel of the special forces till he retired in 2011. |
| 43 | * StoutStrength: Competed in the highest weight class in sambo competition. |
| 44 | * UnknownCharacter: Despite his supposed level, he never broke out in MMA, and he is barely known at all. |
| 45 | |
| 46 | !!!Karimula Barkalaev |
| 47 | -->''"The ADCC, most recently held in London in 2016, featured the best grapplers - world champions, since the birth of this sport, it's the most prestigious event. Only two Russians in history managed to reach the final. And only one became champion - Karimula Barkalaev."'' |
| 48 | -->-- Khabib Nurmagomedov, roughly translated from his VK account posted on 25 September 2017. |
| 49 | |
| 50 | -->''"He was a scary son of a bitch. A completely crazy Chechen!"'' |
| 51 | -->-- Pat Miletich, who had been at the corner of Dave Menne for his fight with Karimula. |
| 52 | |
| 53 | * TheApprentice: To Wrestling/VolkHan. |
| 54 | * ArchEnemy: Ricardo Arona. He once tried to get him in a rematch in MMA to settle the score between them. Another one was Gilbert Yvel as he never got to properly avenge his loss in RINGS. |
| 55 | * BadassFamily: His uncle Abdulkhadzhi Shapievich Barkalaev and his son and Karimula's cousin Dzhabrail Abdulgadzhievich Barkalaev were Russian UsefulNotes/{{Judo}} champions and trainers. Dzhabrail also once served as the vice-president of the Dagestan Judo Federation. His nephew Ruslan Barkalaev is also a MMA fighter. |
| 56 | * BigBrotherMentor: Had one in Mikhail Ilyukhin. |
| 57 | * BitchSlap: Accidentally did this to Ricardo Arona in their ADCC match, he was actually trying to grab his neck, a classic move of the Dagestan fighting traditions. Arona was not amused and the match briefly devolved into a slap fest. |
| 58 | * CarpetOfVirility |
| 59 | * CoolTeacher: Left RINGS after he was offered to be the Abu Dhabi Combat Club's UsefulNotes/{{Judo}} and sambo instructor, which also payed him better until his illegal slap fest with Ricardo Arona at the 2000 ADCC Championships. He is apparently still teaching grappling somewhere in Russia. |
| 60 | * DefeatingTheUndefeatable: Had a MMA career of 11 wins and 1 loss. The loss was by a controversial unanimous decision to Dave Menne at the Shidokan Jitsu - Warriors War 1 event since he instinctively held on to the cage a couple of times after Menne tried to overturn him, he ended up being a victim of "Big" John [=McCarthy=]'s point steal penalties that cost him the fight that he dominated. |
| 61 | ** He does have a loss to Gilbert Yvel in his sole fight in RINGS by KO, though for some reason it is not included in his MMA record despite being the only confirmed shoot of that show, the 1997 World Mega Battle Tournament Semi Finals. |
| 62 | * DisappearedDad: His dad died when he was a child. |
| 63 | * GameBreakingInjury: Retired from fighting due to a back injury. There were once quite a few rumours as to why he left fighting, one said that he had been traumatized for being imprisoned in Abu Dhabi and was no longer in the right mental condition to fight on certain levels, another said that he had to hang up his gloves after having suffered a severe brain aneurysm following a match in Thailand. More stories, even more imaginative, tell of how he had been killed in a firefight during the war in neighboring Chechnya or that he met his end due to his alleged links with the Russian mafiya that turned bad. |
| 64 | * HeroKiller: Has a TKO win over Brazilian Vale Tudo legend Jose "Pele" Landi-Jons. |
| 65 | * HiddenDepths: Once owned a car repair business and is the head of Makhachkala Universal Market [=DagPotrebSoyuz=], LLC. He also once worked as a politician and runs a billiard room that in memory of old times he called "Abu Dhabi". |
| 66 | * HuskyRusskie: Subverted, he mostly competed as a light heavyweight, with his highest recorded weight at about 200 pounds. |
| 67 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/{{Judo}}: Was once part of the Russian national team. As well as UsefulNotes/{{Sambo}}, UsefulNotes/{{Kickboxing}} (is also rumored to be a three time Dagestan Champion) and also has a black belt in UsefulNotes/BrazilianJiuJitsu and is the only Russian to have ever won a ADCC World Championship, having won the 1999 ADCC World Championship in the 88kg division and also won silver at the 1998 ADCC in the same division being beaten by Rodrigo Gracie in the finals by decision after 30 minutes. |
| 68 | * ManBitesMan: Suffered this in his fight with Gilbert Yvel in the IAFC, which got Yvel disqualified. |
| 69 | * MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong: From Dagestan, though some sources say he was originally born in Georgia. He now lives in Makhachkala. |
| 70 | * RedBaron: "Mr. X", "Lev" ("Lion"). |
| 71 | * SoreLoser: After his controversial loss to Dave Menne, his teammates, furious about the result, invaded the ring to face the American and his team and were stopped only by the fortunate intervention of a group of Navy Seals that by pure chance was in the audience. With difficulty, Menne and his corner managed to leave the building unharmed but in the following hours they almost ended up the victim of another assault by the Russians, who armed with knives, surrounded them in the hotel lobby when they went to take back their luggage. Escaping again and feeling they were in danger, Menne and his men asked the sheikh who organised the show to be transferred to another hotel and after a night spent in fear, they returned home on the first available plane. |
| 72 | * SpellMyNameWithAnS: He is sometimes listed as Kareem Barkalev. His name was also listed as Karim Pargalajev by the IAFC for some reason. |
| 73 | * StoneWall: Showcased in his ADCC match with Ricardo Arona, as he was never in any danger of being submitted nor could Arona even hold him down for long before Karimula pulled off an escape and only loss in the overtime due to points from a sweep (contrary to accounts where he was disqualified and immediately jailed). |
| 74 | * TheUnpronounceable: Was introduced in RINGS as Lev Barkala. |
| 75 | * WhatHappenedToTheMouse: After his last MMA in 2001, he seemingly dropped off the face of the planet with many MMA fans wondering where he disappeared to. It has lessened now as there have been reports that he is fine and teaching grappling somewhere in Russia. |
| 76 | |
| 77 | !!!Iouri Bekichev |
| 78 | * TheApprentice: To Alexander Tanyushkin. |
| 79 | * ArrogantKungFuGuy: Or UsefulNotes/{{Karate}} guy in his case. It is downplayed as he was never disrespectful, he only acts like one by offering them free shots on him as he wants to keep the fight on the feet. |
| 80 | * BrattyHalfPint: Subverted, he was the shortest guy on the RINGS Russia team, though he never really acted inappropriately at anytime in RINGS. |
| 81 | * CoolTeacher: Is now a Kyokushin UsefulNotes/{{Karate}} coach and is the president of the Ural Vityaz sports club. |
| 82 | * {{Determinator}}: Was shot in 2008 near his house in Yekaterinburg, Russia and was robbed of several million rubles that he had won at a casino. He survived. |
| 83 | * FragileSpeedster: Somewhat, he is tough on his own, but in RINGS he was among the shortest and lightest of the all the fighters, who also didn’t know anything about ground fighting and his only advantage was his striking speed. |
| 84 | * HeroKiller: Beat Wrestling/HiromitsuKanehara in MMA by TKO. |
| 85 | * HuskyRusskie: Subverted, he was only 5ft 7in and the shortest of the RINGS Russia fighters. |
| 86 | * IKnowKarate: A Kyokushin 3rd dan black belt, member of the Russian national team, the first Russian to achieve international master of sports class in UsefulNotes/{{Karate}}, a 5 time national champion, and also a European champion. |
| 87 | * LightningBruiser: The fastest striker of RINGS Russia and possibly all of RINGS and could knock out guys with flying spinning kicks. |
| 88 | * MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong: Subverted, he was better known for his speed. |
| 89 | * OneSteveLimit: Averted as he shares his first name with Yuri Kochkine (they are spelt differently here for convenience). |
| 90 | * PintSizedPowerhouse: Was the smallest of the RINGS Russia team, his jumping spinning kicks however had real knockout power. |
| 91 | * RedBaron: "White Samurai". |
| 92 | * TheRival: To the smaller guys in RINGS Japan like Wrestling/MitsuyaNagai, Wrestling/WataruSakata, and Wrestling/HiromitsuKanehara. |
| 93 | * SpectacularSpinning: Likes using spinning heel kicks, especially jumping ones and has knocked out people in UsefulNotes/{{Karate}} and RINGS with the jumping ones. |
| 94 | * SpellMyNameWithAnS: Iouri or Yuri? |
| 95 | * TheWorfEffect: Lost to Jeremy Horn in 50 seconds. |
| 96 | * WrestlerInAllOfUs: In his matches he had with Wrestling/MitsuyaNagai and Wrestling/WataruSakata in RINGS, he sometimes busted out something very similar to a [[Wrestling/AJStyles Pele Kick]]. |
| 97 | |
| 98 | !!!Orjol Bekov |
| 99 | * AnimalMotifs: Orjol means “eagle” in Russian. |
| 100 | * CarpetOfVirility: Covered his chest and stomach. |
| 101 | * CoolTeacher: Is apparently a wrestling instructor. |
| 102 | * HuskyRusskie |
| 103 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know Freestyle Wrestling]]: Started when he was 12 and became a master of sport when he was 20. He also learned a bit of UsefulNotes/{{Sambo}}. |
| 104 | * MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong |
| 105 | * SpellMyNameWithAnS: His name is sometimes listed as Orjal, Oryol or Ordzhal Bekov. |
| 106 | * UnknownCharacter: There isn’t much information about him since no one seems to know his real name. |
| 107 | * WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Had one match against Gilbert Yvel and never returned. |
| 108 | |
| 109 | !!!Mikhail Borissov |
| 110 | * ADayInTheLimeLight: Participated in the 2000 King of Kings Tournament but was eliminated in the first round by unanimous decision to Roberto Traven. |
| 111 | * TheApprentice: To David Lvovich Rudman, Sergey Nikolaevich Lukashov, Renat Alekseevich Layshev, and Konstantin V. Troyanov. |
| 112 | * AuthorityEqualsAssKicking: Is the Executive Director of the All-Russian Sambo Federation. |
| 113 | * CoolOldGuy: Was a 38 years old when he debuted in RINGS. |
| 114 | * HuskyRusskie |
| 115 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/{{Sambo}}: Trained at Sambo-70, won a national championship in 1991, and was a training partner of Suren Balachinsky. |
| 116 | * MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong |
| 117 | |
| 118 | !!!Fedor Emelianenko |
| 119 | -->''"Fedor has no weakness. I have seen so many fights, and even the best fighters in the world have a flaw in their game but I have yet to find one in Fedor Emelianenko."'' |
| 120 | -->-- Creator/BasRutten |
| 121 | |
| 122 | -->''"People say he doesn’t look intimidating but I don’t know whether that’s true. Sometimes I see people who try to not look concerned. And you can tell they’re trying hard to come across that way. But, with Fedor, that’s just him. He puts the fear of the unknown on you. I’d rather someone tried to stare me down. That allows me to get a read on them. You look at the guys who are supposedly scary and intimidating, the ones who get in people’s faces, and you know most of the time it’s just for show. Fedor is quite comfortable being himself and that’s scarier than anything."'' |
| 123 | -->-- Chris Haseman |
| 124 | |
| 125 | -->''"Wanderlei Silva has a stare-down that makes you think 'this is gonna hurt', but Fedor's makes you think 's---, I might die'."'' |
| 126 | -->-- Dr Joe Bell, Psychologist from the book; Mind Games: Psychological Warfare in MMA |
| 127 | |
| 128 | * TheAce: In Pride FC, the Russian Top Team and the Red Devil Sport Club. He was undefeated in MMA for about a decade. |
| 129 | * AffectionateNickname: He is called "Fedya" by his family. |
| 130 | * AlwaysSomeoneBetter: He once mentioned he believed his brother Alexander is the more talented fighter. |
| 131 | * TheApprentice: To Wrestling/VolkHan, Wrestling/AndreiKopylov, Nikolai Zouev, Mikhail Ilyukhin, Alexander Fedorov, Andrey Byldin, Nikolai Pitkov, Vladimir Voronov, Aleksander Michkov, and Vasily Gavrilov. |
| 132 | * AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: He is president of the Russian MMA Union. |
| 133 | * BadassFamily: His brother Alexander is a respected MMA and sambo fighter in his own right. |
| 134 | * BadassTeacher: He holds seminars every now and then on MMA and sambo. |
| 135 | * BashBrothers: With his real life brothers Alexander and Ivan. Not so much with Alexander anymore as it was revealed that they have not spoken to each other for 10 years. |
| 136 | * BewareOfTheNiceOnes: He has been described as a humble man whose personality is seen as warm and likable outside of fights, in fights he will beat the will to fight out of anyone in his view. |
| 137 | * CurbStompBattle: Many of his fights don't last beyond the first round. |
| 138 | * DeathGlare: Famous for it, even though he doesn’t actually try, it just contrasts with the atmosphere around him at MMA events so much that it just feels disturbing. It has been compared and contrasted with Wanderlei Silva's glare, the guy whose RedBaron is "The Axe Murderer", and most agree that Fedor is more terrifying. |
| 139 | * DefeatingTheUndefeatable: Against Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira who was considered unbeatable at the time where Fedor was considered the underdog, after his victory he was considered unbeatable. |
| 140 | ** His three straight loses in Strikeforce is an Inversion. |
| 141 | * DissonantSerenity: His state of mind in fight. |
| 142 | * TheDreaded: People feared his ground-and-pound game and his DeathGlare. He should be considered '''The''' Dreaded since even a ChallengeSeeker like Wrestling/KazushiSakuraba refused a chance to fight him. |
| 143 | * DullSurprise / FlatCharacter: At the peak of Japanese MMA, they went all out with elaborate entrances and was full of fighters with outlandish and/or entertaining personalities. What made Fedor stand out other than his skills was his blank stare and refusal to emote, which contrasted with the scenery and freaked the other fighters out. |
| 144 | * EmptyEyes / NothingIsScarier: Many fighters have expressed that they were terrified of Fedor due to his blank and inexpressive stare. |
| 145 | --> Brett Rogers: "I've never been intimidated by anyone in my life. But when we got to the staredown, I looked into his eyes to let him know he was done -- and there was nothing there. It was like I was staring into a void. It kinda psyched me out." |
| 146 | * FutureBadass: That is, even more badass. He won the RINGS Absolute Championship and dominated the promotion, but it was when he jumped to PRIDE Fighting Championship that he showed his true potential. |
| 147 | * GoodOldFisticuffs: Despite his many achievements in UsefulNotes/{{Sambo}} and UsefulNotes/{{Judo}}, in MMA he is mostly known and feared for his boxing and ground-and-pound skills. |
| 148 | * HeroKiller: Defeated Ricardo Arona (in a controversial decision) and then went to beat Renato Babalu, Lee Hasdell and Chris Haseman to win the mentioned championship. |
| 149 | * HuskyRusskie: His nationality is Russian, but ethnically he is Ukrainian. |
| 150 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/{{Sambo}}: A world champion at that. He is also a world medalist in UsefulNotes/{{Judo}}, trained in boxing and went to Holland to learn UsefulNotes/MuayThai to improve his UsefulNotes/{{Kickboxing}}. |
| 151 | * KillerRabbit: [[DissonantSerenity Probably why he got the reputation he did]]. A surface assessment of Fedor would be that [[StoutStrength he looks like your average, simple-minded Russian farm lad with a beer belly and an early bald head]]. [[MasterOfAll This impression is incredibly flawed]], [[TheStoic and Fedor's refusal to emote]] [[StrongerThanTheyLook and unaesthetic physique belied an absolute juggernaut of a man who had the strength of a Superheavyweight with the agility of a great cat.]] |
| 152 | * LightningBruiser: Was a heavyweight that moved like a middleweight despite his surfically pudgy physique, at least in his younger days. Even now he retains the strength and toughness, but he isn't zooming around the ring like he used to. |
| 153 | * MasterOfAll: Excelled in the three fields: stand-up (his GoodOldFisticuffs was good enough to outstrike some of the greatest kickboxers in the world), wrestling (he is a UsefulNotes/{{Judo}} and UsefulNotes/{{Sambo}} medalist) and groundfighting (he is a Judo, Sambo and BJJ black belt with an absolutely ''monstrous'' defense, one hell of a ground-and-pound, and notably [[DeterMinator resisted the picture-perfect Triangle Choke Armbar Werdum for about a full minute before finally tapping out]]). |
| 154 | * MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong: There was certainly no other explanation offered by the promotions he fought and still fights under... [[InexplicablyAwesome and they're honestly correct]]. |
| 155 | * NervesOfSteel: The greatest example in MMA. |
| 156 | * NoSell: [[https://youtu.be/SUR4cr5M_gc He was subject to what is arguably the most picture perfect Flying Suplex in the history of man]]... [[ImplacableMan but due to proper use of Judo Ukemi, he completely killed a potentially deadly impact to his spine]] through clever technique (notice his relaxed hand slapping the canvas immediately before he was about to collide with it, and the lack of tension in his body so he can cushion the fall) and won by a Kimura Submission within seconds while the commentators were still wondering how he was even ''alive''. Fedor put it entirely to his Judo skills in a later interview: |
| 157 | --> ''[[UnderStatement I am used to falling from high places.]].'' |
| 158 | * TheQuisling: Switched to the Red Devil Sports Club due to claims of management abuse when he was with Russian Top Team. |
| 159 | * RealMenLoveJesus[=/=]ReligiousBruiser: For a man not known to say much, he has been described as being outspoken in his Orthodox Christian faith. |
| 160 | * RedBaron: "The Last Emperor", "The Baddest Man On The Planet", "Saikyō no Otoko" ("The Strongest Man"), "Mikado no Kōri" ("The Emperor of Ice"). |
| 161 | * RedOniBlueOni / SiblingYinYang: He is the blue, Alexander's is the red. |
| 162 | * RespectedByTheRespected: See Creator/BasRutten's quote above and the fact Wrestling/KazushiSakuraba refused a fight against him. |
| 163 | * SoundtrackDissonance: Pride fans mostly remember his theme "Enae Volare Mezzo" by Music/{{Era}}, which worked for him as it gave him a more mystical aura as the the lyrics are phantasy and gibberish. His later theme, a Russian folk song called "Oy, to ne vecher" ("Oh, Once In The Evening Time") however is typically not something that should work for a fighter of his nature. Also known as "Kazach'ya Pritcha" ("The Cossack’s Parable") or "Son Stepana Razina"("Stepan Razin’s Dream"), it is about a cossack’s dream that is interpreted by his captain as an omen of defeat. He made it work as the singer of the version he uses is a baritone and is accompanied by an Russian Orthodox choir. |
| 164 | * TheStoic: This is how he describes his state of mind in a fight. |
| 165 | --> "When I walk into a fight, I'm trying not to think about anything; collect myself and concentrate. And going into a fight, I don't feel any emotions, neither anger nor compassion. I don't emotionalize. I'm going into a fight with a clear mind... During the fight, my senses dim and basically I don't feel any pain." |
| 166 | ** Also being born in Russia this is his expression around strangers. |
| 167 | ** NotSoStoic: He is described by people close to him as warm and likable which is understandable as Russians tend to open up only to people they are close with. |
| 168 | * StoutStrength: Was quite pudgy compared to other fighters. |
| 169 | * SuplexFinisher: He was on the receiving end of one by Kevin Randleman. Subverted though as it didn't finish him and Fedor actually won seconds later by submission, which makes it seem that the suplex he took was not as bad as it looked. |
| 170 | * TranquilFury: Despite saying that he feels nothing when he prepares to fight, it is hard not to think of this as he punishes someone with his ground-and-pound. |
| 171 | * TheWorfEffect: His three straight loses in Strikeforce. |
| 172 | |
| 173 | !!!Alexander Fedorov |
| 174 | -->''"If he went to the World Sambo Championships today, he would win with overwhelming strength."'' |
| 175 | -->-- Wrestling/AkiraMaeda |
| 176 | |
| 177 | -->''"At the top of mastery is not power, not talent, but tactics. Varying, improvisation, a quick transition from one technique to another is what brings good luck. How was it with me? The rival is still in the air, has not yet landed on the carpet, but I already spend the pain. Everything is swift!"'' |
| 178 | -->-- Alexander Fedorov |
| 179 | |
| 180 | * TheAce: In his UsefulNotes/{{Sambo}} days, he was said to have won at least 25 tournaments in a row. |
| 181 | * {{Acrofatic}}: Gain quite a bit of weight after he retired from sambo competition, but still could demonstrate the more acrobatic techniques of UsefulNotes/{{Sambo}} with ease. |
| 182 | * AlternateCompanyEquivalent: Dave Meltzer once wrote that Fedorov was basically like a Russian Wrestling/KarlGotch, Wrestling/AkiraMaeda agreed with this assessment. |
| 183 | * TheApprentice: To Alexander Kozlov ([[Wrestling/VladimirKozlov not that one]]). |
| 184 | * BadassTeacher: Was the original head trainer of RINGS Russia and also taught sambo to the RINGS Japan guys. He was also the one who suggested that Wrestling/YoshihisaYamamoto stay on the ropes in his fight with Rickson Gracie. |
| 185 | * BloodKnight: Defied, he said that he never regarded fighting as fun, but was apparently banned from some international sambo tournaments because he regularly injured people. |
| 186 | * CharacterDeath: Died on 22 May 2006, he was 61 years old. |
| 187 | * CoolOldGuy: Most definitely. |
| 188 | * FormerTeenRebel: Was a delinquent in his youth. |
| 189 | * GlassCannon: His lack of stamina is what ultimately led to defeat against Adilson Lima (though it was his corner throwing in the towel to spare him from more abuse), but in the opening minutes of the fight, he actually out-grappled him and even tried to go for leglocks and a guillotine choke. |
| 190 | * GracefulLoser: He still hugged Lima after their fight. Hell he even hugged him before the fight. |
| 191 | * HeroesGoneFishing: Wrestling/YoshihisaYamamoto once told a story of when Fedorov was in Japan and caught a fish with only his hands. |
| 192 | * HiddenDepths: Worked as a turner of workshop No. 42 at the Uralmash plant. |
| 193 | * HuskyRusskie: Subverted, he was actually quite short for a Russian, especially compared to his students in RINGS Russia. |
| 194 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/{{Sambo}}: Champion and trainer. |
| 195 | * MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong |
| 196 | * OldMaster: Was the coach of Wrestling/VolkHan, Wrestling/AndreiKopylov, Nikolai Zouev, Igor Vovchanchyn, and Mikhail Illyukhin, as well as a legendary sambo player. |
| 197 | * RedBaron: "King of The Stalls". |
| 198 | * RevengeBeforeReason: Offered himself to fight Adilson Lima in a MMA match to avenge the defeats suffered by Illyukhin and Wrestling/YoshihisaYamamoto. Needless to say, the ''51'' years old Fedorov could do little against the 33 years old Lima, but extra points for the effort. |
| 199 | * RingOldies: Although RetiredBadass by the point he was in RINGS. |
| 200 | * SpellMyNameWithAnS: RINGS spelt his name as Alexandre Fedorov. |
| 201 | * StoneWall: Resisted Lima’s attempts at keylocks and arm chokes with relative ease. He unfortunately could not stop the punches. |
| 202 | * UrExample: Was part of the Russian team at the first European and World Sambo Championships and won gold in his division at both. |
| 203 | |
| 204 | !!!Wrestling/VolkHan |
| 205 | |
| 206 | !!!Mikhail Ilyukhin |
| 207 | -->''"The training process may be characterised in one word - survival. Truth is, it was given to us only on use, other than physical development, character developed, will to victory."'' |
| 208 | |
| 209 | * AffectionateNickname: "Misa". |
| 210 | * TheApprentice: To Wrestling/VolkHan and was his best known student. He also got started in sambo under Viktor Anatolyevich Motorin and also trained under Viktor Lysenko and Alexander Fedorov. |
| 211 | * AuthorityEqualsAssKicking: President of the Tula Sambo Federation. |
| 212 | * ArchEnemy: UsefulNotes/BrazilianJiuJitsu fighters. He had somewhat of a chip on the shoulder for losing repeatedly to them. |
| 213 | * ChickMagnet: Got kissed by 2 girls at the end of the RINGS Maelstrom 3rd event in Russia. |
| 214 | * CowardlyLion: He often looked like he was terrified out of his mind while fighting, but he was unambiguously a good fighter and rarely committed mistakes. |
| 215 | * CoolTeacher: Was a coach for Russian Top Team. He is also a sambo coach for the Russian national team and also has his own sports club. |
| 216 | * DavidVersusGoliath: Against the 6 ft 8, 270 ib Ricardo Morais at the finals of the Absolute Fighting Championship tournament. Mikhail was fresher because his stablemate Achmed Sagidgusenov had allowed him to skip a fight, but still Morais posed a big menace. Unlike most examples, Mikhail lost the fight. |
| 217 | * {{Determinator}}: Competed in two Russian MMA tournaments representing RINGS Russia, at least four fights back to back the same night. He won one of them beating Igor Vovchanchyn and reached the finals of another in a brutal brawl with Morais. |
| 218 | * DisproportionateRetribution: In his last MMA fight with Jordanas Poskaitis at HERO’s Lithuania 2005, when the referee told them to break and stand up, Jordanas landed a punch on Mikhail’s face right after. Mikhail was not amused and went ballistic, pushing the referee away and attempted to stomp Jordanas in before he had to be restrained by security. Thankfully once he calmed down, he only received a yellow card and apologized for his outburst and went on to win the fight (Jordanas also received a yellow card for his foul). |
| 219 | * HeroicBuild: Had the best looking body compared to everyone else in his stable (except for maybe Sergei Sousserov). |
| 220 | * HuskyRusskie: Subverted, in terms of height as he was quite short at 5ft 9, his physique however plays it straight. |
| 221 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/{{Sambo}}: A national champion and also won bronze at the 1995 World Championships. He also had some training in boxing. |
| 222 | * ImprobableWeaponUser: His chin. Yes, he defeated Igor Vovchancyn and Mestre Hulk by jamming his chin into their eye sockets while grappling them. |
| 223 | * MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong |
| 224 | * MuscleAngst: The Not Enough Muscle version. Apparently he tried to get into RINGS about a year before of his actual debut, but Akira Maeda thought he was too small. Thankfully he gained enough muscles for Maeda to reconsider and always kept his new physic throughout his career. |
| 225 | * NameOrderConfusion: For some reason, RINGS always introduced him surname first and was the only one from RINGS Russia to get this treatment there. |
| 226 | * NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: He and Ricardo Morais gave some to each other. |
| 227 | * PowerTrio: Was part of the Russian "A" team along with Wrestling/VolkHan and Sergei Sousserov for the World Mega Battle Tournament of 1998. |
| 228 | * RedBaron: "Ringusu no Omawarisan" ("The Officer of RINGS"), "The Terror of Tula". |
| 229 | * SpellMyNameWithAnS: His surname was spelled as Illoukhine in RINGS and some MMA websites. One MMA event spelt his name as Michael Ilugin. |
| 230 | * SuperCop: Was a former police officer. |
| 231 | * TheUnfettered: While not an overtly dirty fighter, at least compared to some fellows from RINGS Holland, Mikhail has some cheating to his name. He infamously tapped out Creator/RandyCouture by locking illegally a keylock attempt while they were being repositioned by the referee. |
| 232 | * WrestlerInAllOfUs: Finished off his last MMA opponent Jordanas Poskaitis with a Single Leg Boston Crab of all things. He also somehow pulled off a modified Scorpion Deathlock of all things on Nikolai Zouev at the 1995 Mega Battle Tournament Opening Round (it didn’t submit Zouev, he submitted Zouev with something else). |
| 233 | |
| 234 | !!!Igor Kalmykov |
| 235 | * CoolTeacher: Became a sambo coach after he retired from fighting. |
| 236 | * HuskyRusskie |
| 237 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/{{Sambo}}: Won 1985 Youth World Sambo Championships and won the Sambo All-Soviet Union Cup in 1989. |
| 238 | * {{Jobber}} |
| 239 | * MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong |
| 240 | * SpellMyNameWithAnS: His name is sometimes spelled as Igor Kolmikov or Kolmykov. |
| 241 | |
| 242 | !!!Aleksandr Karelin |
| 243 | -->''"Wrestling him is like wrestling King Kong. I always thought the only way to beat him is to teach wrestling techniques to the strongest animal on earth. That would be a big gorilla."'' |
| 244 | -->-- Matt Ghaffari |
| 245 | |
| 246 | -->''"I train every day of my life as they have never trained a day in theirs."'' |
| 247 | -->-- Aleksandr Karelin, when asked why he is called "The Experiment". |
| 248 | |
| 249 | * TheAce: Had 2 undefeated streaks, the first from 1982 to 1987 and the second from 1987 to 2000, which is in the Guinness Book of World Records as well as the fact that for 6 years he never even lost a point. He was a 14-time champion of the USSR and Russia, won 12 gold medals in the European Championships, won 9 gold medals in the World Championships, and won 3 Olympic gold medals in a row in the super heavyweight division with a silver in his 4th Olympics which he only lost because of new rules and a technicality. |
| 250 | * AffectionateNickname: Friends and family call him "Sasha", which is a relatively common nickname for russian Alexanders. |
| 251 | * TheApprentice: To his wrestling coach Viktor Kuznetsov. |
| 252 | * CharlesAtlasSuperPower: He could deadlift people with the Karelin Lift (formerly known as a deadlift gutwrench suplex before Karelin [[SignatureMove epitomized the move]]) who were equal to or more than his weight, which was about 300 pounds. It is a move used regularly by wrestlers in lower weight classes, but is considered impractical to near-impossible in the superheavyweight division. ''very'' few people were able to adequately defend against it, and if they could, they usually left themselves wide open to an ordinary pin in the process |
| 253 | * CoolVersusAwesome: The main reason Wrestling/AkiraMaeda brought him to RINGS when he could not get Rickson Gracie. |
| 254 | * CreepilyLongArms: His 213cm wingspan and ''enormous'' hands that made him look [[NoodlePeople somewhat lanky]] gave him a huge advantage in getting a grasp on his opponents for his SignatureMove. |
| 255 | * CurbstompBattle: Most of his matches usually last about under 3 minutes. His fight with Wrestling/AkiraMaeda is almost universally considered to be a work not for Akira's lack of trying, but because the fight looks like Karelin is being paid a generous sum of money to not snap Akira like a twig. You can even hear his corner shouting (in Russian) "Sasha, don't hurt him too badly!", at one point during the fight. |
| 256 | * DeathGlare: When he lost to Rulon Gardner. Understandably this was due to an exploitation of a new rule, and Rulon went up to Karelin afterwards to express his admiration and that he'd never be able to win against him otherwise. |
| 257 | * DefeatingTheUndefeatable: Inverted, in 1987 he lost to Igor Rostorotsky for that year's USSR championships. |
| 258 | ** Inverted again, to Rulon Gardner in the 2000 Sydney Olympics. [[ManlyTears Karelin was genuinely grief-struck by the loss by technicality, and was seen crying in his wife's arms afterwards]]. |
| 259 | * {{Determinator}}: Aside from his hellish training, around January 1988 he had a serious concussion, and doctors considered removing him from the 1988 Olympic team, he competed anyway and he still won. In 1993 World Championships, despite breaking two ribs in the opening bout against Matt Ghaffari, he still won. At the 1996 European Championships in Budapest, he had torn the right chest muscle so badly that doctors predicted he would not be able to use his right hand for several months, he still won that and the 1996 World Championships. Was urgently operated on in Budapest and recovered within three months to compete at the 1996 Olympics, looked notable vulnerable throughout the whole tournament, and [[PunctuatedForEmphasis HE. STILL. WON]]! |
| 260 | * TheDreaded: Struck fear in the hearts of Olympic wrestlers for two decades. Even today, people just look at pictures for him and decide they would wrestle a [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot fire zombie gorilla]] rather than merely stepping on a mat with Aleksandr Karelin. |
| 261 | * {{Expy}}: He is thought of as the second coming of legendary Greco-Roman wrestler Ivan Poddubny. Both were reportedly only defeated two times in their careers and both were known as "The Great". |
| 262 | ** He is also considered the [[Film/RockyIV Ivan Drago]] of Greco-Roman wrestling. |
| 263 | * FromNobodyToNightmare / TookALevelInBadass: His coach was at first skeptical about a big but powerless boy, yet he accepted Karelin and motivated him for hard training, both in wrestling technique and physical strength, now he is considered by many the greatest Greco-Roman wrestler to have ever lived. |
| 264 | * GameBreakingInjury: Like most top wrestlers, Karelin had a number of severe injuries through his career. A notable example is his 1996 Summer Olympic finals match against Matt Ghaffari. Karelin had come off a shoulder surgery and looked vulnerable against a strong Ghaffari, who was able to repel Karelin's efforts to lift and slam him, forcing Karelin to change strategy and use all of his skill and experience to defend a 1–0 lead. |
| 265 | * GeniusBruiser: Holds a [=PhD=] and habilitation in Sports Pedogagy, a law degree and is currently a city official of his hometown of Novosibirsk in Russia. His [=PhD=] was devoted to countermeasures against suplex throws (Russian: Методика проведения контрприемов от бросков прогибом), and habilitation to preparation of top-level wrestlers (Russian: Система интегральной подготовки высококвалифицированных борцов). Basically he has a [=PhD=] in wrestling. See WarriorPoet for more details. |
| 266 | * GentleGiant: He was born weighing '''15 pounds''' and is still a massive man even after retiring, but is known by friends and family alike to be a huge teddy-bear of a man and a FriendToAllChildren who still teaches wrestling classes when he can find the time. |
| 267 | * GuestFighter: He was brought to RINGS for Wrestling/AkiraMaeda's retirement match. |
| 268 | * HappilyMarried: To his wife Olga since the mid 80's, with the two of them having three children together; Denis, who dropped wrestling for car racing; Ivan, who picked up his father's wrestling vocation under Aleksandr's old coach; and Vasilia, who became a rhythmic gymnast. |
| 269 | * HeroicBuild: Unlike many of the other superheavyweight Greco-Roman wrestlers of his time who were mostly examples of StoutStrength, Karelin was relatively lanky at 6'3, yet ripped to kingdom come with most of his weight coming from pure slow-twitch muscle. Wrestling/AkiraMaeda compared Karelin's muscles to the ones on racehorses. |
| 270 | * HeroicSecondWind: Was actually losing to the Bulgarian powerhouse wrestler Rangel Gerovski in the finals of the 1988 Olympics, but with 15 seconds left, he lifted Rangel with his famous Karelin Lift to win his first Olympic gold medal. |
| 271 | * HorrifyingTheHorror: Fedor Emilianenko, arguably the greatest MMA fighter of all time, said in an interview that he thinks Karelin could've been the greatest there ever was if he had gone into MMA instead of Greco-Roman, or if he had switched from it at any point. |
| 272 | * HuskyRusskie: The guy ''over'' Fedor Emelianenko in some photo they have together. |
| 273 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know Greco-Roman Wrestling]]: He didn't just know it, many consider him the greatest ever, hell, he's even written his doctorate on the subject. He also trained in boxing when he was in school and UsefulNotes/{{Sambo}} when he was in the army. |
| 274 | * ImpossiblyGracefulGiant: Like many top wrestlers he can walk on his neck and shoulders, and in a [[https://web.archive.org/web/20070127195327/http://stickgrappler.tripod.com/articles/sikarelin.html 1991 interview with Sports Illustrated]], he did a standing split to tap the chandelier in the room with the tip of his shoes' toes. |
| 275 | --> [[TrolL During an early afternoon in Pittsburgh, Alexander Karelin, 23 years old and the most dominating wrestler in the world, is relaxing on a hotel-lobby couch. It is a substantial piece of furniture, and that is a good thing; the 6 ft. 3 in. Karelin's 290 pounds demand it. He has come to Pennsylvania from the Soviet Union for an exhibition match. Nobody passing through the lobby is paying him much attention. "Men of my size are usually not flexible," says Karelin. A mischievous expression spreads across the vast plain of his face. He rises and walks to a chandelier hanging perhaps eight feet above the floor. Lifting his right leg straight up above his head, he gives the chandelier a slight nudge with his size-15 sneaker. Now everyone has noticed him. "What's that man doing?" a woman screams. Karelin pads back to the couch, wiggles both of the ears that protrude like funnels from the sides of his head, looks up at the chandelier swinging gently back and forth, and grins like a schoolboy.]] |
| 276 | * LeotardOfPower: An amateur wrestling one. |
| 277 | * LivingLegend: Of Greco-Roman wrestling, due to being arguably the best to ever do it; You'd have to resort to ''ancient'' examples like six-time Olympics winner and five-time Periodonikēs[[note]] The closest thing the Ancient Greeks had to a "Grand Slam"; winning in both the Olympian, Isthmian, Nemean and Delphian games in the same four-year cycle[[/note]] [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milo_of_Croton Milo of Croton]] to even find someone who could give Karelin a run for his money record-wise. |
| 278 | * LoopholeAbuse: It's almost universally accepted these days that the rule change for Greco-Roman in the 2000 Sydney Olympics were designed to fuck Karelin over. The rule change denoted that if you lost your grip on your opponent mid-throw, you would be deducted a point and reset on the mat. This has never been a factor before in Greco-Roman, ''even when it was only Romans and Greeks doing the sport two thousand some years ago'', but it meant that the incredibly rotund (and thus, hard to latch onto) Rulon Gardner held a major advantage over Karelin and could simply stall for time and wrestle defensively against Karelin. It was still a tightrope act for Rulon, who had to defend against Karelin's relentless offensive for a full fifteen minutes after the technicality, but even Rulon agreed that he'd never be able to fight Karelin head-on. That the rule was changed back immediately after he retired only served to highlight that it was done to end Karelin's dominance by the International Olympic Committee, which has proven itself to be woefully corrupt on many occasions. |
| 279 | * MetronomicManMashing: Became famous and feared for doing this to other Superheavyweights. |
| 280 | * [[MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong Siberia Makes You Strong]]: The best possible example. He has responded to accusations of steroid use by passing every test ever asked of him, including impromptu ones in interviews. |
| 281 | * RealMenWearPink: He is an enthusiastic fan of opera, poetry and ballet. |
| 282 | * RedBaron: "The Experiment", "The Russian King Kong", "The Russian Bear", "Aleksander the Great", "Reichō-rui Saikyō no Otoko" ("The Strongest Man of The Primates"), "Asfal'toukladchik" ("The Asphalt Paver"). |
| 283 | * RespectedByTheRespected: It is known that several wrestlers who have faced Karelin, even high-level ones, have let themselves get lifted up and thrown by him out of fear that he would lift them up anyway and injure them in the fall. |
| 284 | --> ''"When [[SignatureMove it]] happened to me, every hair on the back of my neck raised up," says [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Blatnick Jeff Blatnick]]. "I was doing everything humanly possible to prevent him from lifting me off the mat. I weighed 265 pounds. I was in good shape. I was scared -- intense fear. I don't like flying through the air like that. I kept thinking, 'Don't get hurt. Don't get hurt.' With him, it's almost a victory if you don't get thrown."'' |
| 285 | * SpellMyNameWithAnS: His first name is often mistakenly spelt as the typical English name Alexander, while his surname is sometimes listed as Kareline. |
| 286 | * StoneWall: Aside from his strength that helped him to overpower his opponents, he was also a great defensive wrestler and for 6 years never even lost a point in competition. |
| 287 | * SuplexFinisher: His SignatureMove was the Karelin Lift, a sort of modified deadlift gutwrench suplex. When properly executed, [[TheAllSolvingHammer it awarded Karelin 5 points per throw, the maximum awarded in Greco-Roman wrestling]]. |
| 288 | * TrainingFromHell: When he broke his leg at the age of 15, his rehabilitation consisted of running through the Siberian woods and rowing a wooden rowboat until his hands bled. |
| 289 | * WarriorPoet: He writes poetry in his spare time, was often seen reading a book on the bench at competitions instead of psyching himself up like other wrestlers, and has released several commentaries on Russian classics. |
| 290 | --> ''"This is a highly talented man," says Larisa Mason, a graduate of Leningrad State University who lives in Pittsburgh, where she served as Karelin's interpreter during his visit. "His knowledge and his feeling for poetry, literature and music are incredible. He is witty, full of puns and constantly embellishing his language with passages from books and music. And he is a big teddy bear, too."'' |
| 291 | * WorfHadTheFlu: Literally, in his rematch with Igor Rostorotsky. He had that as well a concussion, but unlike most examples of the trope, he won and did so by pinning him, the first man to ever do so. |
| 292 | * WorthyOpponent: Subverted, he once joked that his toughest opponent was his refrigerator, which he had to carry up eight flights of stairs by himself to get it into his apartment. |
| 293 | * WrestlingFamily: His son Ivan is also a Greco-Roman wrestler. |
| 294 | |
| 295 | !!!Andrey Khodyrev |
| 296 | * CoolTeacher: Was a coach of the Sambo-70 sports club. He later opened his own sports club "Hodori-Tiger". |
| 297 | * GuestStarPartyMember: Was brought in for a Command Sambo exhibition with Gennady Kwan. |
| 298 | * HiddenDepths: Has worked as a stuntsman on several Russia films. |
| 299 | * HuskyRusskie |
| 300 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/{{Sambo}}: Was a four time world champion and a five time world cup winner in the under 48kg division (the lightest division), with multiple medals in the USSR Championships among other achievements. |
| 301 | * MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong |
| 302 | |
| 303 | !!!Vladimir Klementiev |
| 304 | * AccidentalMisnaming: For some reason, his first name in Japanese is written as Barōja. |
| 305 | * AlternateCompanyEquivalent: Was basically one to RINGS Georgia's Tariel Bitsadze, both were their respective teams head UsefulNotes/{{Karate}} guy, both were beaten by Andy Hug at a World Championship, and they even faced each other in RINGS, [[AlwaysSomeoneBetter with Tariel choking Klementiev out]]. |
| 306 | * TheApprentice: To Alexander Tanyushkin. |
| 307 | * CarpetOfVirility |
| 308 | * CharacterDeath: Was shot and killed in April 2000 at the age of 37. |
| 309 | * HuskyRusskie |
| 310 | * IKnowKarate: A Kyokushin black belt, part of the Russian national team, a three time Russian national champion from 1991 to 1993, won international tournaments in The Netherlands and Germany, and also competed in the World Championships twice and faced the legendary Andy Hug in one of them. |
| 311 | * TheMafiya: Was rumored to be part of it or at least had dealings with them, which led to his death. |
| 312 | * MightyGlacier: Slow but hit hard. |
| 313 | * MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong |
| 314 | * PowerTrio: Was part of the Russian "B" team along with Wrestling/AndreiKopylov and Nikolai Zouev for the World Mega Battle Tournament of 1998. |
| 315 | * RealSongThemeTune: Used "Princessa" by Gipsy Kings. |
| 316 | * SpellMyNameWithAnS: Klementiev or Klementiv? His first name was also pronounced by the Japanese announcers as "Baroja" due to a misunderstanding of the Russian alphabet for his name. |
| 317 | * UnskilledButStrong: A pure karateka with no knowledge of ground fighting. His striking was fearsome however and had strikers like Pieter Oele, Hans Nijman and Tariel Bitsadze of all people ditch a prolonged striking battle to choke him out instead. |
| 318 | |
| 319 | !!!Yuri Kochkine |
| 320 | -->''"The tough Kochkine was RINGS Russia's answer to the plucky Japanese wrestlers who went to PRIDE to prove they could take beatings like nobody. He was not even a scientifically trained army sambist like most of his partners, but a traditional black belt in judo and Kyokushin karate who had competed at international level. However, he can still boast of two wins over a young Alistair Overeem and two frightening showings of toughness under the punches and knees of Ricardo Morais and Heath Herring."'' |
| 321 | -->-- Reddit user [=DaShoota=] |
| 322 | |
| 323 | * ADayInTheLimeLight: His draw against Ricardo Morais and his victory over FutureBadass Alistair Overeem. |
| 324 | * AlwaysSomeoneBetter: To Alistair Overeem. |
| 325 | * TheApprentice: To Alexander Tanyushkin. |
| 326 | * AuthorityEqualsAssKicking: Is the head of the Sverdlovsk Kyokushin Federation and is the vice president of the Association of Kyokushin UsefulNotes/{{Karate}} and the Urals Federal District of the Russian Kyokushin Organization. |
| 327 | * CoolTeacher: A Kyokushin UsefulNotes/{{Karate}} coach and a Branch-Chief of the International Karate Organisation. |
| 328 | * {{Determinator}}: Pulled a draw against the mighty Ricardo Morais despite being beaten down all the match. |
| 329 | * HuskyRusskie |
| 330 | * IKnowKarate: A 4th dan Kyokushin black belt, a World Championship runner-up, won the 1994 Russian Oyama Cup, was a bronze medalist at the 1993 Russian Oyama Cup, and a 1993 European champion. He was also an European UsefulNotes/{{Judo}} champion and won silver at an ADCC event in Ural. He also briefly trained in boxing before he switched to UsefulNotes/{{Karate}} and UsefulNotes/{{Judo}}. |
| 331 | * JackOfAllStats: Unlike the other Russian karatekas on the team, Kochkine also knew how to grapple thanks to his UsefulNotes/{{Judo}} background. |
| 332 | * MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong |
| 333 | * OneSteveLimit: Averted as he shares his first name with Iouri Bekichev (they are spelt differently here for convenience). |
| 334 | * RedBaron: "Russia no Kaichō" ("Russian Monster Bird"). |
| 335 | * SpellMyNameWithAnS: Yuri, Yuriy, or Iouri? Also Kochkine or Kochkin? |
| 336 | * TheWorfEffect: By Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. |
| 337 | |
| 338 | !!!Wrestling/AndreiKopylov |
| 339 | |
| 340 | !!!Vladimir Kravchuk |
| 341 | * ADayInTheLimelight: Was selected to compete in the 1992 Mega Battle Tournament, but was eliminated in the first round. |
| 342 | * TheApprentice: To Vladimir Gulidov. |
| 343 | * CoolTeacher: Is now a UsefulNotes/{{Judo}} coach and has his own school. |
| 344 | * EveryoneWentToSchoolTogether: Was a part of the "Platina" Judo Club at the same time as fellow RINGS Russia alumni Sergei Ignatiev. |
| 345 | * HuskyRusskie |
| 346 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/{{Judo}}: Trained at the "Platina" Judo Club, is a multiple time national silver and bronze medalist, and is an international master of sport. He also trained in UsefulNotes/{{Sambo}} and was a bronze medalist at the 1984 USSR Junior Championships. He also competed in SumoWrestling, most notably in the 3rd World Sumo Championships in 1994. |
| 347 | * {{Jobber}} |
| 348 | * MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong |
| 349 | * RedBaron: "Dolgozhitelem" ("Long-Liver"). |
| 350 | * StoutStrength |
| 351 | |
| 352 | !!!Gennady Kwan |
| 353 | * CoolTeacher: Was head coach of the Russian Army in UsefulNotes/{{Taekwondo}} and was also the head coach of the Russian national taekwondo team from 1993 to 1997. He also founded the G. Kwan Sports Center which is part of the sports club CSKA Moscow. |
| 354 | * GuestStarPartyMember: Was brought in for a Command Sambo exhibition with Andrey Khodyrev. |
| 355 | * HuskyRusskie: Is a Korean-Russian. |
| 356 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/{{Sambo}}: Was a 1981 World Junior Championship winner in the under 57kg division and a multiple time medalist in the USSR Championships. He is also considered a pioneer of UsefulNotes/{{Taekwondo}} in Russia and holds a 5th dan black belt in it and was trained at the Kukkiwon - the headquarters of the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF). He has also trained in UsefulNotes/{{Judo}} and UsefulNotes/{{Karate}}. |
| 357 | * MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong |
| 358 | * SpellMyNameWithAnS: Kwan or Kvan? |
| 359 | |
| 360 | !!!Achmed Labasanov |
| 361 | -->''"There isn't a lot of text out there on Labasanov, which is surprising given his spread in the turn of the century in MMA: He was a multiple time Russian and European Pankration champion, a champion wrestler, a two-time entrant into the RINGS King of Kings tournament, and a one-time Pride veteran. But he made his bones in the sport in the days before the internet made every fighter a public figure, and Dagestan wasn't quite on the international radar the way it is these days."'' |
| 362 | -->-- A profile of Labasanov from a VideoGame/FireProWrestling user [=CarlCX=] from https://steamcommunity.com. |
| 363 | |
| 364 | * ADayInTheLimeLight: Participated in both the King of Kings tournaments but never passed the first match. |
| 365 | * TheApprentice: To Wrestling/VolkHan, Wrestling/AndreiKopylov, Nikolai Zouev, and Mikhail Ilyukhin. |
| 366 | * HuskyRusskie |
| 367 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know Amateur Wrestling]]: A Russian national champion and also trained in UsefulNotes/{{Sambo}}. He also briefly trained with the RINGS Japan guys. |
| 368 | * MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong |
| 369 | * RedBaron: "Turbo". |
| 370 | * SpellMyNameWithAnS: His name is sometimes spelt as Akhmed Labazanov. |
| 371 | |
| 372 | !!!Pavel Orlov |
| 373 | * TheApprentice: To Alexander Fedorov. |
| 374 | * HuskyRusskie |
| 375 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/{{Sambo}}: A 1988 USSR youth champion. |
| 376 | * {{Jobber}} |
| 377 | * MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong |
| 378 | * WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Had about 2 matches in RINGS, then disappeared with no one knowing what happened to him after. |
| 379 | |
| 380 | !!!Vladimir Pogodin |
| 381 | * {{Ambadassador}}: Downplayed on the badass part as he only participated in a command sambo demonstration with Wrestling/VolkHan in RINGS. He was the official ambassador and manager of RINGS Russia and Russian Top Team. He was also the Vice-President of All-Russia Sambo Federation. |
| 382 | * CharacterDeath: Died in 2008 in a plane crash. |
| 383 | * HuskyRusskie: Subverted, he was actually quite short. |
| 384 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/{{Sambo}}: As shown in the sambo exhibition with Wrestling/VolkHan. |
| 385 | * MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong |
| 386 | * SpellMyNameWithAnS: Was introduced in RINGS as Vladimir Berkojin. |
| 387 | |
| 388 | !!!Vasily Shvaya |
| 389 | * TheApprentice: To Vasiliy Troyanovich Perchik. |
| 390 | * CharacterDeath: Died in 2001 while saving his brother Victor's life from the Kama River, he was 38 years old. |
| 391 | * HiddenDepths: At the beginning of 1996, he created the public organization Vozrozhdeniye to help young athletes and sports veterans organize sports competitions. |
| 392 | * HuskyRusskie |
| 393 | * ICouldaBeenAContender: One of the best sambist of his generation and appeared in RINGS for one match against Wrestling/MasayukiNaruse, which he won, but for some reason left right after. |
| 394 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/{{Sambo}}: Was the captain of the USSR national sambo team, a multiple national champion and medalist, a 1992 European champion, and a 1988 World Champion with a silver in 1986 and bronze in 1984. |
| 395 | * MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong |
| 396 | * SpellMyNameWithAnS: This name is usually written as Vassili Chvaia on English sites. |
| 397 | * TeenGenius: Became a Master of Sport in sambo at 15 years old. |
| 398 | |
| 399 | !!!Sergei Sousserov |
| 400 | -->''"I’m really not bothered by whatever kind of fighting style or techniques my opponent will use."'' |
| 401 | |
| 402 | * ADayInTheLimeLight: Has a few victories over Wrestling/TsuyoshiKohsaka during Kohsaka’s early RINGS career. |
| 403 | * AlliterativeName |
| 404 | * TheApprentice: To Wrestling/VolkHan and Alexander Fedorov. |
| 405 | * TheBrute: Was strong, knew it and based his style of UsefulNotes/{{Sambo}} on it. |
| 406 | * ColourCodedForYourConvenience: Usually wore grey tights with purple streaks. |
| 407 | * GlassCannon: He had decent sambo skills and was quite strong, but arguably his biggest flaw was that he lacked heart and had poor defense against strikes. |
| 408 | * HeroicBuild: A youth national UsefulNotes/{{Bodybuilding}} champion. |
| 409 | * HuskyRusskie |
| 410 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/{{Sambo}}: A youth national champion and a 1989 Youth World Sambo Champion. |
| 411 | * InformedAbility: Was brought in by Vladimir Pogodin who billed him as Russia’s Secret Weapon, but he never lived up to the hype. |
| 412 | * {{Jobber}} |
| 413 | * MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong |
| 414 | * PowerTrio: Was part of the Russian "A" team along with Wrestling/VolkHan and Mikhail Ilyukhin for the World Mega Battle Tournament of 1998. |
| 415 | * RealSongThemeTune: Used "Eclipse" by Yngwie Malmsteen. |
| 416 | * RedBaron: "Russia no Himitsu Heiki" ("Russia’s Secret Weapon"). |
| 417 | * ScarsAreForever: Has a scar above his right eye. It is said that he got it in a traffic accident. |
| 418 | * SpellMyNameWithAnS: He is sometimes listed as Serguei Sousserov and at other times his surname is spelled as Susserov. |
| 419 | * TeenGenius: Was 19 when he joined RINGS. |
| 420 | |
| 421 | !!!Gennady Yaremenko |
| 422 | * TheApprentice: To Ivan Chertov. |
| 423 | * CoolTeacher: Was the former head coach of Judo Club "Tiger" in Odessa. He is now president and a coach of the Judo Club "Randori" in Odessa. |
| 424 | * HuskyRusskie: Subverted, he is actually Ukrainian. |
| 425 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/{{Judo}}: A Youth European and World champion in 1983, a two time Youth USSR champion in 1983 and 1985, won bronze medals in 1987, 1989, and 1990 in the regular USSR Championships with a silver in 1988, won many international A-class tournaments, and was one of the first national champions of a newly independent Ukraine. He also trained in UsefulNotes/{{Sambo}} and was a Games of the Peoples of the USSR in judo and sambo in 1986. |
| 426 | * {{Jobber}}: Had only one match against Wrestling/VolkHan in RINGS. |
| 427 | * MightyGlacier: Strong but slow. |
| 428 | * MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong: Represented the USSR before Ukraine gained independence. |
| 429 | * RedBaron: "Gigant", "Jūdō Kyojin" ("UsefulNotes/{{Judo}} Giant"). |
| 430 | * SpellMyNameWithAnS: His surname was written by Dave Meltzer as Yaryumenko and can also be spelt as Yaromenko and even Eremenko for some reason. |
| 431 | * StoutStrength: Had a wide waist and competed in the absolute class in UsefulNotes/{{Judo}}, a division usually occupied by hefty dudes. |
| 432 | * TheUnpronounceable: Which is why he was introduced as Gennady Gigant. |
| 433 | |
| 434 | !!!Nikolai Zouev |
| 435 | -->''"Zouev is arguably the mysterious background dude of Russian Top Team. His credentials are unknown or nonexistent beyond the intuitive fact that he was a sambist, and as he never dabbled in MMA, we don't know how legit it was. He was, however, a founding member of RINGS Russia, and had a medium-sized pro wrestling career in RINGS portraying something as a rival to Wrestling/VolkHan."'' |
| 436 | -->-- Reddit user [=DaShoota=] |
| 437 | |
| 438 | * ADayInTheLimelight: Had an unexpected submission victory over Wrestling/KiyoshiTamura in 1997. |
| 439 | * AffectionateNickname: "Zouev-Sensei" by the RINGS Japan guys. |
| 440 | * TheApprentice: To Alexander Fedorov and was his main assistant. He also trained under Fedorov's coach Alexander Kozlov. |
| 441 | * ArrogantKungFuGuy: Possibly the only RINGS Russia guy ever in getting a yellow card on purpose. |
| 442 | * BadassBureaucrat: Worked as executive for RINGS Russia after he retired. |
| 443 | * BadassTeacher: For Russian Top Team and is mentioned to have been significant in training Fedor Emelianenko for his fights against Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira. He also taught sambo to the RINGS Japan guys. |
| 444 | * BeardOfEvil: He had one that made him look like a Russian [[Film/DieHard Hans Gruber]]. |
| 445 | * BoringButPractical: Was an orthodox sambist compared to Wrestling/VolkHan and Wrestling/AndreiKopylov, though he did show bits of brilliant matwork whenever he could. He also preferred utilizing quick and mostly strengthless freestyle wrestling takedowns and sweeps instead of spectacular slams, throws, or suplexes. |
| 446 | * CharacterDeath: Died on May 21 2022 from heart disease. He was 64. |
| 447 | * ColourCodedForYourConvenience: Wore long black tights with grey streaks in all his RINGS matches, he added a black singlet in the second half of his career there. |
| 448 | * CoolTeacher: Had his own sambo school. He also founded and developed the "RINGS Hotel" in Yekaterinburg which also acts as a martial art sports complex facility which unfornately went bankrupt in 2006. |
| 449 | * CripplingOverspecialization / GlassCannon: While a talented sambist and wrestler, he was quite hopeless when it came to striking and defending against it. If he couldn’t take his opponents down to the ground, he was screwed. |
| 450 | * {{Determinator}}: Was once stuck in the Dyatlov Pass for 2 weeks, which froze his fingers and he nearly died from ulcers. |
| 451 | * EscapeArtist: Was an expert in reversing holds and quite a few of his victories in RINGS came from doing just that. |
| 452 | * EvilCounterpart: To Wrestling/VolkHan. |
| 453 | * HuskyRusskie: Subverted, he had a similar build to the lean Wrestling/VolkHan. |
| 454 | * IKnowKarate: UsefulNotes/{{Sambo}} in this case. Part of the Russian national team, winner of several championships in Japan, and won bronze medals at several USSR Championships and two USSR Cups, with a gold at the 1983 USSR Cup. He also did freestyle wrestling in middle and high school. |
| 455 | * InsistentTerminology: Claims to represent what the Japanese referred to as "Kinjite Nashi no Sambo" or "Ura Sambo", which roughly translates to "Sambo Without Rules" or "Hidden Side Sambo" compared to his fellow stablemates "Commando Sambo". |
| 456 | * LeanAndMean: Downplayed as he was this compared to most of the other guys in RINGS Russia when he debuted in RINGS, he slowly gained weight over the years. |
| 457 | * MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong: Averted in pure strength, but straight in fighting ability. |
| 458 | * OvershadowedByAwesome: Is the least remembered senior member of Russian Top Team since he never competed in MMA. |
| 459 | * PowerTrio: Was part of the Russian "B" team along with Wrestling/AndreiKopylov and Vladimir Klementiev for the World Mega Battle Tournament of 1998. |
| 460 | * RedBaron: "The Russian Sambo Master". |
| 461 | * RingOldies: Was 35 when he debuted in RINGS and was the oldest recurring member of the original team. |
| 462 | * TheRival: To Wrestling/VolkHan, Wrestling/AndreiKopylov and the rest of the UsefulNotes/{{Sambo}} players in RINGS (except Chris Dolman, who was unimpressed by him). He went to the extent of beating Han in a worked sambo match. |
| 463 | * TheSneakyGuy: His style of sambo included many feints and subtle setups to submissions and [[CounterAttack counters]] compared to Han’s complex and artisanal control approach and Kopylov’s explosive blitz. |
| 464 | * SpectacularSpinning: Threw spinning backfists and back kicks on occasion, though they usually didn’t connect and he mostly just used them to get a reaction from his opponents. |
| 465 | * SpellMyNameWithAnS: Zouev or Zuev? |
| 466 | * TechnicianVersusPerformer: Was the technician compared to Wrestling/AndreiKopylov’s performer and Wrestling/VolkHan’s mixture of the two. |
| 467 | * TokenEvilTeammate: Downplayed, as most of his offenses were only against Wrestling/VolkHan and never tried to cheat like fellow teammate Mikhail Ilyukhin or the RINGS Holland guys. |
| 468 | * WarriorPoet: Write poems and essays in his spare time. |
| 469 | * WeakButSkilled: Compared to his teammates, Zouev wasn’t very strong or athletically gifted and already past his prime when he debuted in RINGS. He made up for that with a deceptive grappling acumen. |
| 470 | |
| 471 | !!Others |
| 472 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/russian_top_team_0.PNG]] |
| 473 | [[caption-width-right:350:The Original Top Team]] |
| 474 | !!!Sergei Apasov |
| 475 | * TheApprentice: To Wrestling/VolkHan, Wrestling/AndreiKopylov, Nikolai Zouev, and Mikhail Ilyukhin. |
| 476 | * HuskyRusskie |
| 477 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/{{Sambo}} |
| 478 | * MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong |
| 479 | |
| 480 | !!!Mikhail Avetisyan |
| 481 | * TheApprentice: To Wrestling/VolkHan. |
| 482 | * HuskyRusskie |
| 483 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know Greco-Roman Wrestling]]: As well as UsefulNotes/{{Sambo}}. |
| 484 | * MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong |
| 485 | * RedBaron: "Braveheart". |
| 486 | |
| 487 | !!!Denis Baykov |
| 488 | * TheApprentice: To Wrestling/VolkHan, Wrestling/AndreiKopylov, Nikolai Zouev, and Mikhail Ilyukhin. |
| 489 | * HuskyRusskie |
| 490 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/{{Sambo}}: As well as UsefulNotes/{{Judo}}. |
| 491 | * {{Jobber}} |
| 492 | * MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong |
| 493 | |
| 494 | !!!Arsen Bayrambekov |
| 495 | * AxCrazy: In real life he killed 4 people from 2003 to 2014 as sacrifices to Dagestan pagan gods and another 2 as he was hired to do. In March 2017, Verkhnepyshminsky City Court sentenced him to 14 years in prison. |
| 496 | * CoolTeacher: Was once a coach for the Russian Thai Boxing Federation. |
| 497 | * HuskyRusskie |
| 498 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/MuayThai: Allegedly, he was a champion of Dagestan, a national championship medalist, and more than once he was a champion of the Sverdlovsk region. |
| 499 | * {{Jobber}} |
| 500 | * LawmanGoneBad: Was a former policeman. |
| 501 | * MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong |
| 502 | * PsychoForHire: Was paid to murder at least 2 people. The other 4 were for "religious" reasons. |
| 503 | * SerialKiller: A real one, he killed at least 4 people in a ritualistic manner to Dagestan pagan gods. |
| 504 | |
| 505 | !!!Alexander Bezruchkin |
| 506 | * TheApprentice: To Anatoly Ivanovich Vinik and Vasyl Vrazovsky. |
| 507 | * AuthorityEqualsAssKicking: Is the head of the "Konfederatsiya Yedinoborstv" ("Confederation of Martial Arts"). He is also the director of the "Tsentra Sportivnoy Podgotovki" ("Center for Sports Training"). |
| 508 | * HuskyRusskie |
| 509 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know Greco-Roman Wrestling]]: A member of the Russian national team from 1993 to 2004, won bronze at the 1993 Baltic Sea Games, a 1995 and 2000 national champion with bronze medals in 1994, 1997, and 1999 and a silver medal in 1998, a 1995 bronze medalist and a 2000 and 2001 silver medalist at the Grand Prix of Ivan Poddubny, a 1996 Vantaa Cup champion, a 2003 Grand Prix of Germany champion, a 2001 European champion with a bronze in 1997 and placed 15th in 1999 and 5th in 2004, a 1993 and 1997 World Cup champion, and was a 2001 World Champion and placed 15th and 6th in 2002 and 2003 respectively. |
| 510 | * {{Jobber}} |
| 511 | * LeotardOfPower: An amateur wrestling one. |
| 512 | * MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong |
| 513 | * SpellMyNameWithAnS: His name was spelt as Alexander Bezroutchkin in RINGS. |
| 514 | |
| 515 | !!!Andrei Byldin |
| 516 | * BadassTeacher: Was a boxing coach of Russian Top Team and introduced the Emelianenko brothers to the team. |
| 517 | * HuskyRusskie |
| 518 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know Boxing]] |
| 519 | * MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong |
| 520 | * NonActionGuy: Did not compete in RINGS. |
| 521 | |
| 522 | !!!Eduard Churakov |
| 523 | * CharlesAtlasSuperpower: Is a Russian powerlifting champion. |
| 524 | * CoolTeacher: Has his own school, Thai Boxing Club "Lotos". |
| 525 | * EarlyBirdCameo / GuestFighter: Fought in at a Seikendo event. |
| 526 | * HuskyRusskie |
| 527 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/MuayThai: As well as boxing and also participated in Russian Hand-to-Hand Combat Championship tournaments. |
| 528 | * MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong |
| 529 | |
| 530 | !!!Oleg Danilevsky |
| 531 | * TheApprentice: To Wrestling/VolkHan. |
| 532 | * HiddenDepths: Became an actor and stuntman after his MMA fights. |
| 533 | * HuskyRusskie |
| 534 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/{{Sambo}}: A Kazakhstan champion and also knew UsefulNotes/{{Judo}}. |
| 535 | * {{Jobber}} |
| 536 | * MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong |
| 537 | |
| 538 | !!!Alexander Emelianenko |
| 539 | -->''"Sasha will be the most threatening in the near future."'' |
| 540 | -->-- Fedor Emelianenko |
| 541 | |
| 542 | -->''"My punches are like electric trains, if I miss, my opponent would catch a cold."'' |
| 543 | -->-- Alexander Emelianenko |
| 544 | |
| 545 | * AffectionateNickname: He is called "Sasha" by his family. |
| 546 | * TheAlcoholic: He likes to drink. |
| 547 | * TheApprentice: To Wrestling/VolkHan, Wrestling/AndreiKopylov, Nikolai Zouev, Mikhail Ilyukhin, Alexander Fedorov, Andrey Byldin, Nikolai Pitkov, Vladimir Voronov, and Aleksander Michkov. |
| 548 | * AttackAttackAttack: Basically sums up his fight strategy. |
| 549 | * BadassFamily: His older brother is Fedor. |
| 550 | * BashBrothers: With his real life brothers Fedor and Ivan. Not so much with Fedor anymore as it was revealed that they have not spoken to each other for 10 years, though he states this is because of the people Fedor hangs out with and does not blame him directly. |
| 551 | * BigLittleBrother: Is bigger than his older brother Fedor. |
| 552 | * CallingTheOldManOut: Has a stained relationship with his father after his parents divorced, he says only came back into their lives after hearing about their success and he started to calling his young brother, Ivan. Tried to teach him life lessons, then one time I couldn’t take it, he grabbed the phone and said "The lad is twenty years old, why are you teaching him like some school kid? You should’ve thought about it earlier." He states Fedor has a better relationship with their dad because the divorce happened when Fedor was in the army. |
| 553 | * CurbStompBattle: A lot of his wins come by KO or TKO in the first round. |
| 554 | * EarlyBirdCameo: He never competed in a RINGS event, he only trained with the RINGS Russia guys and cornered Fedor in his fights. |
| 555 | * GoodOldFisticuffs: Most of his wins in MMA come from KO or TKO by punches. |
| 556 | * HuskyRusskie: His nationality is Russian, but ethnically he is Ukrainian. |
| 557 | * ILetYouWin: He claims he let his brother Fedor take the gold medals in at least three combat sambo tournaments as Fedor was more well known and older than him. |
| 558 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/{{Sambo}}: He started his formal sambo training when he joined elementary school. He is also a 1999 European Championships Sport Sambo Gold Medalist, a FIAS World Combat Sambo Championships Gold Medalist in 2003, 2004, and 2006, a Russian Combat Sambo National Championship in 2003, 2004, 2006, and 2010, with a silver medal in 2012, a 2003 Moscow Open Combat Sambo Silver Medalist, a 2003 Union of Heroes Cup Combat Sambo Silver Medalist, a 2004 Dagestan Open Combat Sambo Silver Medalist and a 2010 [=SportAccord=] World Combat Games Combat Sambo Silver Medalist. He is also knows amateur wrestling, boxing and is a Master of Sport in UsefulNotes/{{Judo}}. |
| 559 | * {{Jerkass}}: Was charged with sexual assault, "kidnapping" by withholding a passport, and the forced use of "narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances on his former housekeeper Polina Stepanova. He was out on parole after 18 months in prison. |
| 560 | * MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong |
| 561 | * RealMenLoveJesus: Like his brother, he is of the Orthodox Christian faith. |
| 562 | * RedBaron: "Red Devil", "The Grim Reaper", "The Warrior", "The Neo Emperor", "Irezumi no Kaminari" ("Tattooed Thunder"). |
| 563 | * RedOniBlueOni / SiblingYinYang: He is the red, Fedor's the blue. |
| 564 | * StoutStrength: Has the Emelianenko pudginess. |
| 565 | * TagalongKid: Was brought to Russian Top Team for being Fedor's little brother. |
| 566 | * TattooedCrook: Has tattoos all over his body and has been accursed as a Russian nationalist, equated with Roman Zentsov. He denies this and states that getting new tattoos is just a hobby to him and that they have no real meaning. |
| 567 | |
| 568 | !!!Zagir Gaydarbekov |
| 569 | %%* TheApprentice: To Wrestling/VolkHan. |
| 570 | %%* HuskyRusskie |
| 571 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/{{Sambo}}: As well as Chinese Sanshou and was a two-time world champion in 1993 and 1995, two-time European champion, two-time champion of the USSR in 1990 and 1991, and two-time winner of the Russian Cup and European Cup. |
| 572 | * MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong |
| 573 | * RingOldies: Was in his 40s when he fought his only MMA fight against Denis Shibankov and won. |
| 574 | * SpellMyNameWithAnS: His name is sometimes listed as Sagid Gadabekov for some reason. |
| 575 | |
| 576 | !!!Vasiliy Gorbonos |
| 577 | * TheApprentice: To Wrestling/VolkHan. |
| 578 | * HiddenDepths: Became an actor after his MMA fights. |
| 579 | * HuskyRusskie |
| 580 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know Boxing]]: As well as UsefulNotes/{{Sambo}}. |
| 581 | * {{Jobber}} |
| 582 | * MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong |
| 583 | |
| 584 | !!!Sergei Ignatiev |
| 585 | -->''"As far as I can piece together, Ignatov was trained in combat sambo and traditional judo, and made his combat sports debut in the turn-of-the-century MMA tournament scene in Russia, most notably winning and defending the Pankration Sport Club title in 2001. Presumably, it was that win and his affiliation with the Russian Top Team that got him called up to Pride and thoroughly demolished. Supposedly Ignatov went into retirement after the Arona fight and emerged thirteen years later in 2017 for a return engagement just six days before his 46th birthday--a fight he won by triangle armbar. I can't definitively confirm it was him. But it seems likely. There are only so many Sergey Ignatov/Ignatievs out there in combat sports. I hope."'' |
| 586 | -->-- A profile of Ignatiev from a VideoGame/FireProWrestling user [=CarlCX=] from https://steamcommunity.com. |
| 587 | |
| 588 | * TheApprentice: To Vladimir Gulidov, Wrestling/VolkHan, Wrestling/AndreiKopylov, Nikolai Zouev, and Mikhail Ilyukhin. |
| 589 | * AuthorityEqualsAssKicking: Is the president of the Krasnoyarsk Grappling Federation since 2015. |
| 590 | * CoolTeacher: He works as a UsefulNotes/{{Judo}} coach at the "Samson" Fitness Club in Krasnoyarsk. |
| 591 | * CoolOldGuy: Was 30 when he started MMA and retired at 45. |
| 592 | * EveryoneWentToSchoolTogether: Was a part of the "Platina" Judo Club at the same time as fellow RINGS Russia alumni Vladimir Kravchuk. |
| 593 | * HuskyRusskie |
| 594 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/{{Judo}}: A four-time national champion from 1995 to 1998 with a bronze in 1994 and a silver in 1993, a silver medalist at the 1994 World Championship among military personnel, a bronze medalist in the 1998 European Team Championships, and won the 1996 World Cup. He also trained in UsefulNotes/{{Sambo}}, was a pankration tournament winner, and is an amateur SumoWrestling champion at the 80kg division. |
| 595 | * MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong |
| 596 | * SpellMyNameWithAnS: Ignatiev, Ignatov, or Ignachev. Also Sergey or Sergei? |
| 597 | |
| 598 | !!!Alan Karaev |
| 599 | * {{Acrofatic}}: As a sumo wrestler, he is this, for the first few seconds of the fight anyway. |
| 600 | * AlternateCompanyEquivalent: He is basically a Russian version of Wrestling/{{Akebono}} in MMA, as both were huge and decorated sumo wrestlers who tried MMA, were put into fights with a few big names, and lost most of their fights. |
| 601 | * TheApprentice: To Kazbek Zoloeva. |
| 602 | * AuthorityEqualsAssKicking: In March 2016, he was elected President of the Sumo Federation of Russia. |
| 603 | * CharlesAtlasSuperpower: Is a 7 time Arm Wrestling World Champion (with left and right arm), multiple time European and Russian National Champion, and has won many prestigious world tournaments. |
| 604 | * TheGiant: 6 ft 7 in and about 400 pounds of Russian mass. |
| 605 | * GlassCannon: Like most sumo wrestlers, he would start out a fight explosive, but he would quickly tire out and his defensive fighting wasn't great either. |
| 606 | * HuskyRusskie: The biggest guy to come out of RINGS Russia. |
| 607 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] SumoWrestling: An amateur sumo world champion in 2002, Russian national champion in 2003, and has won bronze and gold medals at the World Games. |
| 608 | * MightyGlacier: Big, strong and could get explosive in the first few seconds of a fight, but got tired easily. |
| 609 | * MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong |
| 610 | * NeckLift: Head lift actually, in his Big Mouth Loud matches, his FinishingMove was an iron claw lifted into a slam. |
| 611 | * RammingAlwaysWorks: He's usually the one to takedown his opponent first in his fights due to this. |
| 612 | * RedBaron: "The Russian Bear", "Hakai Chōjin" ("Destruction Superman"). |
| 613 | * StoutStrength: As a Russian sumo wrestler, this is a given. |
| 614 | * TopHeavyGuy: Close to this, his legs were not small, but being a 400 pound sumo wrestler in his prime, his upper body dwarfed them. |
| 615 | * UnrelatedBrothers: He often gets mistaken as the brother or cousin of Russian-Ossetian kickboxer Ruslan Karaev due to their surnames and both are from areas in North Ossetia. They are good friends in real life however. |
| 616 | * UnskilledButStrong: He had little MMA training before going into his MMA career. |
| 617 | * WearingAFlagOnYourHead: Wore MMA trunks with the colours of the Russian flag in his MMA debut against Gary Goodridge. |
| 618 | |
| 619 | !!!Sergei Kharitonov |
| 620 | -->''"This Russian is too scary."'' |
| 621 | -->-- Health Herring |
| 622 | |
| 623 | -->''"I was afraid, I did not have any hands or legs."'' |
| 624 | -->-- Semmy Schilt, after his loss to Kharitonov at Pride 2004 Heavyweight Grand Prix Quarterfinal. |
| 625 | |
| 626 | * TheAce: Of Russian Top Team after Fedor left. |
| 627 | * TheApprentice: To Wrestling/VolkHan, Wrestling/AndreiKopylov, Nikolai Zouev, Alexander Fedorov, and Mikhail Ilyukhin. |
| 628 | * BadassFamily: His father was a boxing trainer and also did skating, football, and long distance marathon running. His mother was a volleyball coach. |
| 629 | * BigBrotherMentor: Fedor Emelianenko was one to him in Russian Top Team as his sparring partner, teaching him ground-and-pound and submissions on the ground. |
| 630 | * {{Determinator}}: According to Mikhail Ilyukhin, key elements of Sergei's success are his willpower and unpredictability in the ring. |
| 631 | * TheDreaded: He was feared for his powerful boxing and ground-and-pound techniques. |
| 632 | * EstablishingCharacterMoment: His fight with Semmy Schilt, where he brutalized the big Dutchman with ground-and-pound. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and even Fedor Emelianenko were at a loss for words and were unable to hide their surprise after the fight. |
| 633 | * GoodOldFisticuffs: Most of his wins in MMA come from KO's and TKO's by punches. |
| 634 | * HeroKiller: Has beaten like Murilo Rua, Semmy Schilt, Pedro Rizzo, Alistair Overeem, and Andrei Arlovski in MMA. In UsefulNotes/{{Kickboxing}}, he has beaten Mighty Mo and Jérôme Le Banner. |
| 635 | * HiddenDepths: Graduated from a high school with a specialization in music and once wanted to be an accordionist. |
| 636 | * HuskyRusskie |
| 637 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/{{Sambo}}: Trained at the Airborne Troops Academy, was a Russian Airborne Troops Sambo champion and an Eurasia Combat Sambo champion, and was also an ARB (Army Hand-to-Hand Combat) competitor, being a six time Russian Airborne Troops Hand-to-hand combat fight champion, a three time Russian Army combat fight champion, and a World Universal Fight Unifight champion. He first started with boxing and was a 2003 Central Asian Games silver medalist, a 2004 Asian Championships silver medalist and a 2007 Russian Championship silver medalist. He also regularly trains with the Russian national boxing and Sambo teams, as well as some freestyle wrestlers. He also added UsefulNotes/MuayThai training to his regimen with Golden Glory, and, according to him, he even borrows some elements from UsefulNotes/{{Karate}}. |
| 638 | * ItsRainingMen: He was a paratrooper for the Russian Airborne Troops [Vozdushno-desantnye voyska Rossii (VDV)]. He remained on active duty while training full-time with the Russian Top Team and even came to the ring in his full military uniform. He is now retired from the army. |
| 639 | * MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong |
| 640 | * NeverBeHurtAgain: Started training boxing seriously when he was ten or eleven years old, following an incident when a drunken adult passer-by broke up a scuffle between Sergei and another boy by lifting Sergei in the air, hitting him in the face and cutting his eyebrow with that punch. [[{{Irony}} The man justified his behavior by saying that Sergei should not have been hitting a grounded opponent]]. |
| 641 | * RedBaron: "Paratrooper", "The Russian Mercenary", "The Siberian Tiger", "Shinigami Teishin" ("Death God Paratrooper"), "Russia-Gun Saikyō no Heishi/Otoko" ("Russian Army's Strongest Soldier/Man"), "Russia no Reitetsu Ningen Kyōki" ("Russian Coolheaded Human Weapon"). |
| 642 | |
| 643 | !!!Roman Kostenikov |
| 644 | * TheApprentice: To Wrestling/VolkHan, Wrestling/AndreiKopylov, Nikolai Zouev, and Mikhail Ilyukhin.. |
| 645 | * HuskyRusskie |
| 646 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/{{Sambo}}: As well as UsefulNotes/{{Judo}} and boxing. He was also a sparring partner of Fedor Emelianenko. |
| 647 | * {{Jobber}} |
| 648 | * MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong |
| 649 | |
| 650 | !!!Igor Kovalev |
| 651 | * CoolTeacher: Is now a yoga instructor and has his own school; Fresh Yoga. |
| 652 | * GuestStarPartyMember: Was Igor Vovchanchyn’s sambo training partner and later part of his Team Vovchanchyn crew. He also had only one fight at a RINGS Lithuania event. |
| 653 | * HuskyRusskie: Subverted, he is Ukrainian. |
| 654 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/{{Sambo}}: An Ukrainian national champion and a silver medalist at the 1998 World Championships. He also trained in boxing and UsefulNotes/{{Kickboxing}}. |
| 655 | * {{Jobber}} |
| 656 | * RedBaron: "Fresh". |
| 657 | |
| 658 | !!!Vladimir Kuramenchev |
| 659 | * HuskyRusskie |
| 660 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/{{Kickboxing}} |
| 661 | * MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong |
| 662 | |
| 663 | !!!Alexander Michkov |
| 664 | * BadassTeacher: Was Fedor and Alexander Emelianenko's boxing coach in Russian Top Team. He is also one of the head coaches of the Red Devil Club. |
| 665 | * GuestStarPartyMember: Was brought onto Russian Top Team to be Fedor's coach. He left with Fedor to the Red Devil Club. |
| 666 | * HuskyRusskie |
| 667 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know Boxing]]: As well as UsefulNotes/{{Sambo}}. |
| 668 | * MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong |
| 669 | * NonActionGuy: Didn't compete in RINGS. |
| 670 | |
| 671 | !!!Ruslan Mirzoev |
| 672 | * TheApprentice: To Wrestling/VolkHan, Wrestling/AndreiKopylov, Nikolai Zouev, and Mikhail Ilyukhin. |
| 673 | * HuskyRusskie |
| 674 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/{{Sambo}} |
| 675 | * {{Jobber}} |
| 676 | * MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong |
| 677 | |
| 678 | !!!Sergey Miserva |
| 679 | * TheApprentice: To Wrestling/VolkHan. |
| 680 | * HuskyRusskie: Subverted, he is Ukrainian. |
| 681 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know Jiu-Jitsu]]: A traditional stylist and black belt, he also trained in UsefulNotes/{{Sambo}}. |
| 682 | |
| 683 | !!!Alexei Motorin |
| 684 | * TheApprentice: To Wrestling/VolkHan, Wrestling/AndreiKopylov, Nikolai Zouev, and Mikhail Ilyukhin. |
| 685 | * CoolTeacher: Owns two sports clubs called Khuligan Number One and Russkiy Zver'. |
| 686 | * HuskyRusskie |
| 687 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know Boxing]]: As well as UsefulNotes/{{Sambo}} and was a national UsefulNotes/{{Kickboxing}} and Chinese Sanshou champion. |
| 688 | * {{Jobber}} |
| 689 | * MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong |
| 690 | * RedBaron: "Khuligan" ("Hooligan"). |
| 691 | * StoutStrength: Was near 300 pounds. |
| 692 | |
| 693 | !!!Shukhrat Ochilov |
| 694 | * HuskyRusskie: Subverted, he is from Uzbekistan. |
| 695 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/{{Sambo}}: A national champion and a 2014 world masters champion in 45-49 age group in the under 100kg division. |
| 696 | * {{Jobber}} |
| 697 | * SpellMyNameWithAnS: Ochilov or Ochirov? |
| 698 | |
| 699 | !!!Andrei Pashkin |
| 700 | * HuskyRusskie |
| 701 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know Greco-Roman Wrestling]]: A Russian Greco-Roman champion. |
| 702 | * SpellMyNameWithAnS: His name is also spelt as Andrey Pashkin. |
| 703 | * MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong |
| 704 | |
| 705 | !!!Igor Perminov |
| 706 | * AuthorityEqualsAssKicking: Is the Chairman of the Audit Commission of the Sverdlovsk Sambo Federation. |
| 707 | * BashBrothers / IdenticalTwins: His twin brother Oleg is also a sambist. |
| 708 | * CoolOldGuy: Was 41 when he fought in MMA. |
| 709 | * CoolTeacher: Is a sambo coach of the Nizhny Tagil Youth Sports School. |
| 710 | * HuskyRusskie |
| 711 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/{{Sambo}}: As well as UsefulNotes/{{Judo}}. |
| 712 | * {{Jobber}}: Had only one fight against Borislav Jeliazkov, which he lost. |
| 713 | * MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong |
| 714 | |
| 715 | !!!Nikolai Pitkov |
| 716 | * BadassTeacher: Was a UsefulNotes/{{Kickboxing}} coach for Russian Top Team and introduced Fedor Emelianenko to RINGS. |
| 717 | * CoolTeacher: He runs a private kindergarten. |
| 718 | * HiddenDepths: He now runs a sushi bar. |
| 719 | * HuskyRusskie |
| 720 | * IKnowKarate: As well as boxing, UsefulNotes/MuayThai, and UsefulNotes/{{Kickboxing}}. |
| 721 | * MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong |
| 722 | * NonActionGuy: Did not compete in RINGS. |
| 723 | |
| 724 | !!!Andrei Reznik |
| 725 | * TheApprentice: To Wrestling/VolkHan, Wrestling/AndreiKopylov, Nikolai Zouev, and Mikhail Ilyukhin. |
| 726 | * HuskyRusskie |
| 727 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/{{Sambo}} |
| 728 | * {{Jobber}} |
| 729 | * MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong |
| 730 | |
| 731 | !!!Viktor Rudova |
| 732 | * TheApprentice: To Wrestling/VolkHan, Wrestling/AndreiKopylov, Nikolai Zouev, and Mikhail Ilyukhin. |
| 733 | * CoolTeacher: Is now a wrestling coach. |
| 734 | %%* HuskyRusskie |
| 735 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know Amateur Wrestling]]: As well as UsefulNotes/{{Sambo}}. |
| 736 | * MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong |
| 737 | |
| 738 | !!!David/Eldanis Safarov |
| 739 | * HuskyRusskie |
| 740 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/MuayThai |
| 741 | * {{Jobber}} |
| 742 | * MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong |
| 743 | * RedBaron: "Tank". |
| 744 | |
| 745 | !!!Achmed Sagidgusenov |
| 746 | * TheApprentice: To Wrestling/VolkHan, Wrestling/AndreiKopylov, Nikolai Zouev, and Mikhail Ilyukhin. |
| 747 | * HuskyRusskie |
| 748 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/{{Sambo}}: As well as boxing. |
| 749 | * ILetYouWin: Threw his fight with teammate Mikhail Ilyukhin at IAFC: Absolute Fighting Championship 1. |
| 750 | * MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong |
| 751 | * SpellMyNameWithAnS: His name is also spelt as Akhmed Sagidgusenov. |
| 752 | |
| 753 | !!!Alexei Saninkov |
| 754 | * HuskyRusskie |
| 755 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/{{Kickboxing}} |
| 756 | * {{Jobber}} |
| 757 | * MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong |
| 758 | |
| 759 | !!!Alexander Skrypnikov |
| 760 | * HuskyRusskie |
| 761 | * NonActionGuy: Was a sponsor of RINGS Russia and Russian Top Team. |
| 762 | |
| 763 | !!!Konstantin Uriadov |
| 764 | * TheApprentice: To Wrestling/VolkHan, Wrestling/AndreiKopylov, Nikolai Zouev, and Mikhail Ilyukhin. |
| 765 | * {{Bouncer}}: Works for a security company. |
| 766 | * HuskyRusskie |
| 767 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/MuayThai: As well as UsefulNotes/{{Sambo}}. |
| 768 | * MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong |
| 769 | * RedBaron: "Punisher", "Palach" ("Executioner"). |
| 770 | |
| 771 | !!!Vladimir Voronov |
| 772 | * AlliterativeName |
| 773 | * AuthorityEqualsAssKicking: Is the vice-president of the Belgorod Sambo and Judo Federation. |
| 774 | * BadassTeacher: Was Fedor and Alexander Emelianenko's sambo coach since they were kids. He is also one of the head coaches for the Red Devil Club and is the main coach of Kirill Sidelnikov. |
| 775 | * GuestStarPartyMember: Was brought onto Russian Top Team to continue being Fedor's coach, especially for his fight against Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira. He left with Fedor to the Red Devil Club. |
| 776 | * HuskyRusskie |
| 777 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/{{Sambo}}: As well as UsefulNotes/{{Judo}}. |
| 778 | * MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong |
| 779 | * NonActionGuy: Did not compete in RINGS. |
| 780 | |
| 781 | !!!Igor Vovchanchyn |
| 782 | -->''"Pride Fighting legend Igor Vovchanchyn was so bad ass and fun to watch."'' |
| 783 | -->-- Dana White |
| 784 | |
| 785 | -->''"If I had fists like that, I would've never grappled."'' |
| 786 | -->-- Helio Gracie |
| 787 | |
| 788 | -->''" One should be able to think strategically and logically, possess firmness, be cold-blooded and patient."'' |
| 789 | -->-- Igor Vovchanchyn |
| 790 | |
| 791 | * TheAce: Has the second longest win streak in MMA with 36 wins. |
| 792 | * AlternateCompanyEquivalent: Was to PRIDE what Chuck Lidell was to the UFC. They were strikers who used their wrestling backgrounds to defend takedowns, forcing grapplers into boxing matches, essentially [[HoistByHisOwnPetard using grapplers' previous tactic against them]] and paving the way for the future striking aces like Mirko Cro Cop and Anderson Silva. They both also had ice themed nicknames. |
| 793 | * TheApprentice: To his UsefulNotes/{{Kickboxing}} trainer Oleg Nicolaiavicha. |
| 794 | * AuthorityEqualsAssKicking: Is the vice-president of the Ukrainian Oriental Martial Arts Association. |
| 795 | * BadassBiker: He is fond of biking and collaborates with the Kharkov bike-club "Street Warriors". |
| 796 | * BeatThemAtTheirOwnGame: Although he was scheduled to face Wrestling/KenShamrock at Pride 13, Vovchancyn faced Tra Telligman, as Shamrock had sustained a neck injury 2 weeks prior to the fight. Despite Igor being able to counterstrike, Telligman surprised him with a left straight which knocked Vovchanchyn down, allowing Tra control the rest of the fight and win the decision. This was the first time Igor had been outstruck, even if it was seen as an upset. |
| 797 | ** His fight with Mirko Filipovic, where Cro Cop KO'ed him with a head kick. |
| 798 | * BloodKnight: Under his icy demeanor is a guy who ''loves'' to fight. |
| 799 | * CoolTeacher: Is a MMA trainer now. |
| 800 | * CounterAttack: He specialized in an aggressive counterpunching style in order to make up for his short reach. |
| 801 | * CripplingOverspecialization: Subverted, while he was primarily a kickboxer and based his MMA game around his punching power, he also had his UsefulNotes/{{Sambo}} skills to position his opponents for ground-and-pound and was able to surprise many with his defensive guard and dexterity on the ground. It was true in his first MMA tournament though as that was before he trained in sambo. |
| 802 | * TheDreaded: Was considered one of the most dangerous strikers of his time, with 38 victories by knockout or technical knockout. |
| 803 | * EyeScream: Lost to Mikhail Ilyukhin by the chin to the eye submission. |
| 804 | * ForgotFlandersCouldDoThat: In his fight with Ricardas Rocevicius in RINGS, Ricardas requested that no punches were allowed in the fight, which Igor said was difficult to avoid, but since he was a kickboxer and not just a boxer, he won via leg kicks in the second round. |
| 805 | * FormerTeenRebel: He said that growing up, he caused trouble and got into street fights and different kinds of mischief. Due to his antics, there was a popular story in circulation, that whenever Igor became upset, the villagers would ring a bell in the center of town which would alarm everyone to stay in their houses until Igor calmed down. He later stated that this story was just a joke, although there was a bell in the center of town. |
| 806 | * GameBreakingInjury: Retired at age 32, citing multiple injuries, including a right hand that remained seriously affected as of 2008. It has been speculated that due to this injury, his last few performances in his career were passive. |
| 807 | * GoodOldFisticuffs: Wielded some of the hardest punches in MMA history but varied his standup with soccer kicks, knee strikes and various other techniques. |
| 808 | * GuestStarPartyMember: Was never official part of RINGS Russia or Russian Top Team, but he did train with them to improve his UsefulNotes/{{Sambo}} skills. He also had only one fight in RINGS against Ricardas Rocevicius at RINGS Lithuania: Bushido Rings 3. |
| 809 | * HeroKiller: Beat guys like Gary Goodridge, Akira Shoji, Carlos Barreto, Mark Kerr, Francisco Bueno, Wrestling/AlexanderOtsuka, Wrestling/KazushiSakuraba, Daijiro Matsui, Enson Inoue, Wrestling/NobuhikoTakada, Gilbert Yvel, Masaaki Satake, Valentijn Overeem, Bob Schrijber, Dan Bobish, Katsuhisa Fujii, Kazuo Takahashi, and Yuki Kondo. |
| 810 | * HiddenDepths: He runs a Ukrainian cafe-bar called 'Champion'. He also runs a charity foundation with his name on it. |
| 811 | * HuskyRusskie: Subverted, he is Ukrainian. |
| 812 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/{{Kickboxing}}: A former member of the Ukrainian national team and was a world champion. He also trained in boxing under Oleg Ermakov and was a national champion, he also trained in UsefulNotes/{{Sambo}} under Alexander Fedorov. |
| 813 | * InstantExpert: Sort of, he won his first boxing championship after only a few months of training with even his coach trying to dissuade him as he felt he wasn’t ready yet. |
| 814 | * LivingLegend: He is widely considered an MMA legend, and in Ukraine he even has a tournament named after him, the Igor Vovchanchyn Cup. |
| 815 | * PassingTheTorch: His head kick KO by Mirko Filipovic is considered a 'passing of the torch' as Vovchanchyn had split his last 8 fights in Pride with a record of 3-5 (1-3 in his last 4), and it elevated the newer striking sensation Cro Cop into an Interim Heavyweight Championship fight with Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira. |
| 816 | * ThePeteBest: He is this to Eastern European fighters like Fedor Emelianenko and Mirko Cro Cop. He was the first kickboxer to have sustained success against grappling artists in the mid 90s, was universally feared as a striker in the late 90s, and got a scary number of victories over established names. However, because his success happened in the "Dark Ages" of MMA, only hardcore fans remember him. |
| 817 | * PintSizedPowerhouse: Is quite short for a Ukrainian at 5ft 7in, despite his small size, Vovchanchyn was known for his toughness and strength, leading Wrestling/NobuhikoTakada to call him a "strongman". |
| 818 | * RedBaron: "Ice Cold", "Ukraine Freight Train", "Kita no Saishū Heiki" ("The Last Weapon of The North"). |
| 819 | * TimeToUnlockMoreTruePotential / TookALevelInBadass: After he lost by submission in his first MMA tournament to sambist Andrei Besedin, he trained under the legendary Alexander Fedorov to improve his grappling skills. |
| 820 | * UseYourHead: Defeated Nick Nutter at the IAFC - 1st Absolute Fighting World Cup Pankration event using the back of his head. |
| 821 | * TheWorfEffect: Suffered his only clean KO defeat to Mirko Filipovic via head kick at Pride Total Elimination 2003. "Cro Cop" brought it to a close 1:29 into the first round, authoring one of Pride’s most iconic finishes. He also got worfed by Ernesto Hoost in a UsefulNotes/{{Kickboxing}} match, Mark Coleman by knees, Mario Sperry by arm-triangle choke, Quinton Jackson by injury, and Alistair Overeem by standing guillotine choke. |
| 822 | |
| 823 | !!!Victor Yerohin |
| 824 | * ADayInTheLimelight: Was a finalist at the IAFC - Absolute Fighting Eurasian Championship event won by Mikhail Ilyukhin. |
| 825 | * TheApprentice: To Wrestling/VolkHan and Viktor Lysenko. |
| 826 | * HuskyRusskie |
| 827 | * [[IKnowKarate I Know]] UsefulNotes/{{Sambo}}: Command sambo and also placed third in the 1993 Russian National Championships. |
| 828 | * MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong |
| 829 | * SpellMyNameWithAnS: His surname is sometimes also spelt as Yerokhin or Erokhin. |
| 830 | |
| 831 | !!!Yakov Zobnin |
| 832 | * TheApprentice: To Alexander Tanyushkin and Andrei Bura. |
| 833 | * AuthorityEqualsAssKicking: Is the Deputy Minister of Sports, Culture, and Youth Policy in Sverlovsk. |
| 834 | * CoolTeacher: A Kyokushin UsefulNotes/{{Karate}} coach and has coached for the AOZT Kyokushinkai Karate Sports Club from 1993 to 1997 and "Going to the Sun" Karate Sports Club NGO since then. |
| 835 | * TheGiant: 6ft 6 and about 220 pounds. |
| 836 | * HuskyRusskie |
| 837 | * IKnowKarate: A Kyokushin black belt and was a three time national champion, an European champion, and a 1997 World Champion. |
| 838 | * {{Jobber}}: Had only one fight in RINGS against Renato Sobral, which he lost in about 3 minutes to a rear naked choke. |
| 839 | * MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong |
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