41 KOs in 66 official MMA fights. 61 wins in 63 kickboxing matches. A winning streak of 37 consecutive fights in MMA that lasted over four years. The status of one of the best heavyweights in the world, and the most formidable knockout striker during the formation of Pride FC tournaments.
The legendary Igor Vovchanchin is one of the most famous and most beloved mixed martial arts fighters from the post-Soviet space. On his long combat path, he crushed many top fighters and won dozens of tournaments.
Today we bring to your attention the classic eight-tournament International Fighting Championship with his participation, which took place on March 30, 1996 in Kiev. In addition to Ukrainian and Russian fighters, a very representative team from the United States came to perform. Everything is like a selection of real heavyweights. And Igor's first rival was a huge 170-kilogram wrestler Fred Floyd.
In the semifinals, Vovchanchin was waiting for a real beast. Two-meter Paul Vorlance, nicknamed "Polar Bear", was already a real UFC veteran in 1996. After all, he entered the Octagon 8 times and was the finalist of the seventh tournament.Unfortunately, in early 2021, Paul left our world. This guy was a real warrior and always fought openly with any opponent. The footage of that battle with Igor, without exaggeration, spread all over the world.
Two exhausting fights with huge rivals were crowned with victories, but the final was waiting for Igor. And in the final one more formidable opponent. John Dixon weighed 120 kilograms and, unlike Vovchanchin, very quickly dealt with his rivals in the previous rounds, spending a little more than two minutes on each. Thus, the American was quite fresh, full of energy and, like the rest of his teammates, significantly surpassed Igor in height and weight. But it seemed that no circumstances could embarrass Igor and he fearlessly stepped into the arena.