MMA Fighter Bios: IGOR VOVCHANCHYN

IGOR VOVCHANCHYN
MMA RECORD: 49-10-1
BORN: Zolochiv, Ukraine
5’8, 205 POUNDS

Igor Vovchanchyn moved from the kickboxing realm into the world of mixed martial arts, primarily fighting in the Ukraine. He would however be a very dominant fighter with good strikes and very powerful punches. He would knock out opponent after opponent, and if he didn’t go to sleep he’d win several bouts by submission from strikes. Fighting in the mid-90s, Vovchanchyn amassed a 25-2-1 record competing in the Ukraine, Russia, Brazil and Israel.
Pride FC welcoming the Ukrainian in their fold, where Igor won via KO over Gary Goodridge in his debut. Showing tremendous power in his strikes, Igor would damange Akira Shoji, Carlos Barreto and Francisco Bueno, in a one-punch knockout with his patented overhand right. Igor was doing great and took out Alexander Otsuka in the first round of the Pride Grand Prix, and followed that with a huge KO over Gary Goodridge, and a victory over Kazushi Sakuraba. However in the finals, Mark Coleman, used his superior wrestling and excellent strikes with knees from the ground to finish Igor off.
Igor would continue to do very well in Pride, and would defeat Daijiro Matsui, Enson Inoue and Mark Kerr. His powerful punching and aggressive streak would led him to either outpoint or KO most of his opponents. A friendly individual outside of the ring, Igor would be “Ice Cold” and life up to his nickname inside the Pride squared circle by severely battering opponents.
As the years went by, although Igor had trouble against the toughest competition Pride had to offer, he still always offered a super threatening striking attack, and would use his fists to dispatch of Dan Bobish, Katsuhisa Fujii, Yoshiki Takahashi and Yuki Kondo. Igor would also surprise many when he’d drop down for a heel hook, which he utilized successfully twice in his career, and very surprisingly against submission specialist Valentijn Overeem.
Igor was one of the first super power-punchers who was able to successfully transition and use his talent effectively in MMA. He amassed one of the most impressive records in the early going of the sport and was an inspiration to numerous heavy handed MMA hopefuls.
ICE COLD FACTS
International Fighting Championship 1 winner
PRIDE World Grand Prix 2000 runner-up
Absolute Fighting Championship 3 winner
World ValeTudo Championship 5 winner
Russian Kickboxing Champion
58-2 Kickboxing record

KNOCKOUT POWER
26 Knockouts
53% percent of wins by KO
9 victories from Submission from Strikes Decisions