Igor Vovchanchyn
Due to his antics, there was a popular story in circulation that whenever Vovchanchyn became upset the villagers would ring a bell in the center of town which would alarm everyone to stay in their houses until he had calmed down.
[8] In late 1995, Vovchanchyn transitioned from a successful kickboxing career to MMA after being invited to participate at Honour of the Warrior in Kharkiv, Ukraine.
Unusually, an immediate rematch was granted, and the fight began again only to be stopped a second time after Lima's nose was broken by a punch, giving Vovchanchyn the win by TKO.
[15][16] Having achieved much success competing in the former Soviet Union, Vovchanchyn then won the 1st Absolute Fighting World Cup Pankration tournament in Tel Aviv, Israel on 12 November 1997.
In the tournament final, Vovchanchyn faced Nick Nutter, an NCAA All-American Wrestler from Ohio State and a protégé of Mark Coleman.
[18] As a seven-time winner of various tournaments, Vovchanchyn was invited to compete in the fifth edition of the World Vale Tudo Championship (WVC), organised by Brazilian promoter Frederico Lapenda and hosted by the Fun House Night Club in Recife, northeast Brazil on 3 February 1998.
The event featured an elimination tournament of eight fighters – three Americans, four Brazilians, and Vovchanchyn as the sole Ukrainian representative – without gloves and with 10-minute rounds.
After forcing Chinese boxing stylist Tulio Palhares to submit to strikes in the quarterfinals, Vovchanchyn was scheduled to face Patrick Smith at the semifinal stage.
Smith withdrew, however, after breaking his hand against Marco Selva, and he was replaced by local fighter Elias Rodrigues, also known as Demonio Negro ("Black Devil").
Advancing to the final, he faced the American wrestler Nick Nutter in a rematch and scored a brutal 14-second knockout when he countered a takedown attempt with a well-timed knee strike.
[19][20] He returned to the WVC the following year, knocking out Edson Carvalho, a member of the Brazilian national judo team and a Carlson Gracie black belt.
Carvalho was a disciple of Sebastião "Master of Death" Lacerda, a wealthy man from the north of Brazil who appeared in Rio de Janeiro in 1996 claiming to have spent a long period of time in Japan learning "the deadly art of yawara."
[18] After winning at World Vale Tudo Championship 5, Vovchanchyn was invited to Japanese promotion PRIDE, fighting Gary Goodridge in his debut.
Most of the fight stayed in the standing position, with Vovchanchyn damaging a wary Shoji and throwing him down, while the Japanese circled him and lied on the mat to avoid his hits.
In what was Vovchanchyn's last venture for some time outside of PRIDE, he participated in another 4-man tournament called 'InterPride' in his home country of Ukraine, winning the first fight via TKO and the final by submission.
Coming back to PRIDE, he fought Carlos "Carlão" Barreto, a Carlson Gracie team member and reigning IVC Heavyweight Champion.
Come the overtime, they traded hits and Barreto managed to take Vovchanchyn down, ending the fight working ground and pound on him.
Vovchanchyn had been considered the top fighter in the sport for some years, and as commentators Stephen Quadros and Bas Rutten stated, he was likely the favorite to win the tournament.
After the fight was declared a draw and needed a second round to determine a finalist, Sakuraba's corner threw in the towel as he had just fought for 105 minutes and could not physically continue.
Vovchanchyn then fought Enson Inoue at PRIDE 10 in what was one of the most one sided fights in MMA history,[26] which resulted in a doctor stoppage after the end of the 1st round.
Inoue later recounted of the fight, "I sustained a broken jaw, fractured finger, perforated eardrum, swollen brain, a liver count 2000x the normal person and spent 2 days in intensive care.
[28] 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.
At the start of 2002, Vovchanchyn considered moving down to the Middleweight (205lb) division, and stated he thought he had a good chance to become a champion in that weight class.
Fighting Quinton Jackson would be similarly unfortunate for Vovchanchyn, as the American fighter slammed him twice, getting him submitted due to injury at PRIDE 22.
[20] Although he was rumored to fight at PRIDE 34 against Wanderlei Silva,[27] Vovchanchyn retired at age 32, citing multiple injuries, including a right hand that remained seriously affected as of 2008.
In July 2009, Vovchanchyn was linked to making his return in MMA at the Fighting Mixed Combative event in South Korea, which was scheduled for September 29, 2009.
[53] Vovchanchyn also displayed significant grappling skills, utilizing his Sambo background, and would work a vicious ground and pound offense with short and hard strikes from the top.
[54] He was able to surprise many with his defensive guard and dexterity on the ground despite being known primarily as a striker,[55] and displayed this ability against submission fighters such as Carlos Barreto, Mark Kerr and Valentijn Overeem among others.
[59] Vovchanchyn took a pro-Ukrainian stance since the beginning of the Russo-Ukrainian war in 2014, stating that "year 2014 made it clear for me who the Russians are and in what way we, Ukrainians, are different.
[60] In the aftermath of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, Vovchanchyn setup a foundation that helps and supports Ukrainian Armed Forces, as well as civilians in the Kharkiv oblast.
