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[deeznizzies]

Question: How did you do in school? Was there a lot of fighting in your childhood? When did you go in for sport?
Igor Vovchanchyn: I did OK in my studies. Fought a lot. Beat everybody up. I was naughty, a bit of a hooligan! (smiling) We had a track and field athletics section in the school, so I joined. I trained there for five years and was the fastest runner. And then I was invited to join a boxing section, where I started my training under the trainer Oleg Ermakov. Then eventually I was invited to join kickboxing: they were looking for a heavier guy. I agreed to. Was swinging my legs already during the training.

Question: During the Warrior`s honour 1 tournament (10.1995), Andrey Besedin managed to quickly submit you. But already a few month later in the Absolute Fighting World Championship 1 tournament, you showed a good ground game defence.
Igor Vovchanchyn: Well, after that loss, I went to Subbotin to wrestle. And wrestled 1.5-2 hours a day. That's how I learned.

Question: Tell about your training. How much different they became from the beginning of your mixed martial arts career to the moment when you were fully concentrated to your Pride fights?
Igor Vovchanchyn: They were different of course. There was more ground (wrestling/grappling) aspect and I was training two times a day. In the morning I had striking exercises and cross-country running, in the evening wrestling and striking.

Question: What are you doing at the moment? Will you agree to return to a few fights if asked?
Igor Vovchanchyn: I am a businessman. I won't return. Sometimes I want to, but I'm already 35. And above all I have injuries. I can't punch with my right hand at all: I have three pins in the elbow. And additional one in the left. Soon I will go to the nose surgery because I can't breath in the usual manner. Therefore there is no sense of me coming back.

Question: How do you comment the collapse of Pride?
Igor Vovchanchyn: (halting for a moment) Well, it's bad. Americans took everything over, but aren't paying much. Monopoly doesn't lead to a good stuff. It would be better if Pride was still alive.

All about Russian MMA - Fedor Emelianenko,M-1 Global,M1 Global,UFC,Randy Couture,PRIDE FC: Interview with MMA, Pride and kickboxing legend Igor Vovchanchyn

if already posted, my bad.. sad to see "ice cold" not returning to the cage or ring... he really is a legend and in his time, one of the most powerful strikers in mma or kickboxing imo.

[Ramma]

Yeah, not hearing about Igor returning is a bit upsetting. He was exciting to watch, win or lose.

But, if he isn't feeling up to it, and wants to keep his body intact, there is nothing wrong with that.

He will be missed.

[maxp84z]

WAR IGOR!! he was like my favorite fighter in the early days.... short stalky guy with alot of heart. I want him BACK! 35 isnt that old!!! Chuck is like 38 and Randy is 44!! COME ON IGOR MAKE A COMEBACK

[Diegonightmare]

Originally Posted by maxp84z

I want him BACK! 35 isnt that old!!! Chuck is like 38 and Randy is 44!! COME ON IGOR MAKE A COMEBACK

From his descriptions, sounds like his body is a lot older than his 35 years.

We'll always have the DVD's. Legends never die.

[maxp84z]

Originally Posted by Diegonightmare

From his descriptions, sounds like his body is a lot older than his 35 years.

We'll always have the DVD's. Legends never die.

I think 35 is way 2 young to hang it up FOR GOOD... What if M1 offered Igor 1 million to fight Fedor? I think he'd take it.

[Raiders18]

Damn that's to bad, I wanted to see Igor make a comeback to the fight game. My hats off to him though for providing many fights of much entertainment.

[Ramma]

Originally Posted by maxp84z

I think 35 is way 2 young to hang it up FOR GOOD... What if M1 offered Igor 1 million to fight Fedor? I think he'd take it.

Who wouldn't fight Fedor for 1 million? Who wouldn't fight for 1 million? lol Like there is any shame in losing to him or walking away with 1 million dollars? I bet my mom would do it lol.

[valheruking]

There's a huge difference in the way some peoples body's age, depends on many different factors, when you started, punishment you've taken, injuries sustained etc, just because he's 35 doesn't mean he's too young to stop fighting, it's not a 35 year old teacher thinking about retiring lol, its someone who has been fighting for a living.

It's a pity he can't fight anymore too, he hit so damn hard lol

[prophet665]

Igor is one of the people that got me interested in MMA. The very first MMA match I ever saw other than the UFC was Igor versus Francisco Bueno. Brutal knockout. He also had wins over Gary Goodridge and Sakuraba when they were both in their prime. It really is a shame he won't be coming back.

It isn't even that his body has aged badly, he is just falling apart.

[Clint]

Originally Posted by valheruking

There's a huge difference in the way some peoples body's age, depends on many different factors, when you started, punishment you've taken, injuries sustained etc, just because he's 35 doesn't mean he's too young to stop fighting, it's not a 35 year old teacher thinking about retiring lol, its someone who has been fighting for a living.

It's a pity he can't fight anymore too, he hit so damn hard lol

Agreed. Considering Igor's background and how poor he grew up it's not a big surprise that his body is worn out at 35. I doubt his injuries got taken care of very much, if at all. But at the same time, that poverty is what made him so emotionless out there and so tough/gritty.

A quick summary of a story from No Holds Barred (everyone needs to read this book). In one of Igor's first tournaments, Igor was so poor that he hadn't eaten for 3 days prior and all of the Ukrainian fighters (there were 8 out of the 16 competitors) between them could only afford to buy 1 athletic cup, that they all had to share. When they fought each other, they had to draw straws for who got to wear it. In that tournament Igor got his jaw broken in the first fight but continued on to win the tournament (If I remember correctly, however I know he aleast won that first fight with the broken jaw).

I would love to see Igor fight again. How can you not respect a guy like him, but I understand why he is staying put.