Sherdog.com Preview: PRIDE GP Final Conflict Part I
Igor Vovchanchyn vs. Kazuhiro Nakamura
Aug 24, 2005
VOVCHANCHYN: Ukrainian kickboxer and sambo stylist Igor Vovchanchyn (Pictures) trains with Igor Kovalev, Gennadiy Matsigora, Yuri
Gudymahas and the rest of Team Vovchanchyn. He carries an amazing
50-9-1-1 record in MMA. “Ice Cold” is a five-time eight-man
tournament winner, the 2000 PRIDE Grand Prix runner-up and a true
legend of the sport.
Although he has been fighting around the world for an entire decade and this will be his 60th MMA fight, he has never fought in the United States. Igor was scheduled to appear in the UFC 11 tournament but visa issues kept him from making the trip.
From 1995-98 he fought in seven eight-man (or larger) tournaments
and a four-man tournament, winning five titles. At one point, in a
span of 32 days in 1996, Vovchanchyn knocked out six men in two
Russian tournaments.
In his first international tournament, the Kombat in Kiev IFC event, he faced three big men in the form of Paul Varelans, Fred Floyd and John Dixson and beat all of them.
He debuted in the PFC in October of ’98, running through fighters like Gary Goodridge (Pictures), Akira Shoji (Pictures), Daijiro Matsui and Enson Inoue. He defeated Goodridge again and punished Kazushi Sakuraba (Pictures) before catching knees in the head from Mark Coleman (Pictures) in the final of the PRIDE Grand Prix in 2000.
After a stunning upset by Tra Telligman (Pictures) at PRIDE 13, we saw Vovchanchyn was actually human. He beat kickboxer Gilbert Yvel (Pictures) but was submitted by Mario Sperry (Pictures) and it appeared he was getting burnt out, dropping four of seven bouts including losses to Heath Herring, Quinton Jackson (Pictures) and Mirko Filipovic (Pictures).
The Ukrainian had won five of six (losing only to Mirko Filipovic (Pictures)) since returning to action in June of ’03. He submitted RINGS veteran Bob Schrijber (Pictures) and knocked out three straight opponents, including UFC veterans Dan Bobish, Shimoji Fuji and former open-weight King of Pancrase Yoshiki Takahashi (Pictures).
Vovchanchyn took a decision win over another former King of Pancrase, Yuki Kondo (Pictures), at the PRIDE Middleweight GP Total Elimination show earlier this year. The victory allowed Vovchanchyn to advance to quarterfinals of the tournament and the Critical Countdown show.
NAKAMURA: Kazuhiro Nakamura (Pictures) is the All-Japan 100-kilo division judo champion and training protégé of Olympic judo champion and world gold medalist Hidehiko Yoshida (Pictures).
He trains out of the Yoshida Dojo under the tutelage of Yoshida and training partner and PRIDE/UFC veteran Tsuyoshi Kohsaka (Pictures). He has also traveled to Brazil to train with Pedro Rizzo (Pictures) and Vitor Ribiero at Nova Uniao. Nakamura is 6-4 in MMA, all in PRIDE, and he makes his 11th appearance in the PFC.
Nakamura debuted at PRIDE 25 against Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (Pictures). He applied an impressive body-lock throw, landing inside Nogueira’s guard. Late in the first round he would jump back into guard and strike Nogueira a number of times in the face, avoiding armbars, triangles and even an omo plata in the process. In the second round “Minotoro” never let up, letting Nakamura think he was trying for a choke but maneuvered him into an armbar for the win.
At PRIDE Bushido 1, Nakamura was pitted against Daniel Gracie. Early on there were no indications this was judo vs. jiu-jitsu as both fighters were happy to trade on the feet. Although lengthy, the ground battle was more entertaining than most because neither fighter backed down. Nakamura landed the better strikes in the exchanges and took the unanimous decision.
He defeated pro wrestler Dos Caras Jr. by decision at PRIDE 27 and submitted Dutch striker Chalid Arrab by armbar at Bushido 3.
A rematch with “Minotoro” Nogueira took place at Bushido 4 but Nakamura lost the two-round decision. At the PRIDE Final Conflict show, he scored a career-making victory over Brazilian Top Team fighter Murilo Bustamante (Pictures).
It was a unanimous decision win and opened the door for a bout with Team Quest fighter Dan Henderson (Pictures) at PRIDE 28. Unfortunately, a bizarre slam caused a serious injury to Nakamura and the bout was over in less than 90 seconds.
Kazuhiro took out K-1 kickboxer Stefan Leko (Pictures) with strikes in less than a minute at PRIDE 29. He won an impressive unanimous decision over former UFC heavyweight champion Kevin Randleman (Pictures) at the 2005 Total Elimination show. The bout served as the opening round of the Middleweight Grand Prix and Nakamura advanced to face Wanderlei Silva (Pictures) in the quarterfinals.
It was an exciting battle but a poorly timed attempt to discard his gi top left him open for attack and he fell to a barrage of strikes late in the first round.
MY PICK: Nakamura.
I can’t believe I’m actually picking him over Vovchanchyn. Years ago I never would’ve thought it but three things brought me to this conclusion.
One reason is that Nakamura has proven to be one tough protégé for Yoshida. This guy is for real and Silva was the first guy to ever stop him with strikes. He’s also shown steady improvement from fight to fight.
Although he looks more fit and faster, Vovchanchyn didn’t show the same power in his hands as a light heavyweight that he did as a heavyweight. Kondo took a lot of abuse and he was small for this tournament. If he didn’t go out from the strikes of a former crusher, I don’t see Nakamura going down.
A final reason would be twofold: Nakamura’s ability to go the distance coupled with Vovchanchyn’s susceptibility to submission is a bad combination. I feel Nakamura takes it by decision.
Although he has been fighting around the world for an entire decade and this will be his 60th MMA fight, he has never fought in the United States. Igor was scheduled to appear in the UFC 11 tournament but visa issues kept him from making the trip.
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In his first international tournament, the Kombat in Kiev IFC event, he faced three big men in the form of Paul Varelans, Fred Floyd and John Dixson and beat all of them.
Vovchanchyn began fighting for PRIDE in 1998 and other than a
handful of bouts over the years he has remained exclusively in
Japan. He never fought for either the PRIDE middleweight or
heavyweight title but was always a force.
He debuted in the PFC in October of ’98, running through fighters like Gary Goodridge (Pictures), Akira Shoji (Pictures), Daijiro Matsui and Enson Inoue. He defeated Goodridge again and punished Kazushi Sakuraba (Pictures) before catching knees in the head from Mark Coleman (Pictures) in the final of the PRIDE Grand Prix in 2000.
After a stunning upset by Tra Telligman (Pictures) at PRIDE 13, we saw Vovchanchyn was actually human. He beat kickboxer Gilbert Yvel (Pictures) but was submitted by Mario Sperry (Pictures) and it appeared he was getting burnt out, dropping four of seven bouts including losses to Heath Herring, Quinton Jackson (Pictures) and Mirko Filipovic (Pictures).
The Ukrainian had won five of six (losing only to Mirko Filipovic (Pictures)) since returning to action in June of ’03. He submitted RINGS veteran Bob Schrijber (Pictures) and knocked out three straight opponents, including UFC veterans Dan Bobish, Shimoji Fuji and former open-weight King of Pancrase Yoshiki Takahashi (Pictures).
Vovchanchyn took a decision win over another former King of Pancrase, Yuki Kondo (Pictures), at the PRIDE Middleweight GP Total Elimination show earlier this year. The victory allowed Vovchanchyn to advance to quarterfinals of the tournament and the Critical Countdown show.
NAKAMURA: Kazuhiro Nakamura (Pictures) is the All-Japan 100-kilo division judo champion and training protégé of Olympic judo champion and world gold medalist Hidehiko Yoshida (Pictures).
He trains out of the Yoshida Dojo under the tutelage of Yoshida and training partner and PRIDE/UFC veteran Tsuyoshi Kohsaka (Pictures). He has also traveled to Brazil to train with Pedro Rizzo (Pictures) and Vitor Ribiero at Nova Uniao. Nakamura is 6-4 in MMA, all in PRIDE, and he makes his 11th appearance in the PFC.
Nakamura debuted at PRIDE 25 against Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (Pictures). He applied an impressive body-lock throw, landing inside Nogueira’s guard. Late in the first round he would jump back into guard and strike Nogueira a number of times in the face, avoiding armbars, triangles and even an omo plata in the process. In the second round “Minotoro” never let up, letting Nakamura think he was trying for a choke but maneuvered him into an armbar for the win.
At PRIDE Bushido 1, Nakamura was pitted against Daniel Gracie. Early on there were no indications this was judo vs. jiu-jitsu as both fighters were happy to trade on the feet. Although lengthy, the ground battle was more entertaining than most because neither fighter backed down. Nakamura landed the better strikes in the exchanges and took the unanimous decision.
He defeated pro wrestler Dos Caras Jr. by decision at PRIDE 27 and submitted Dutch striker Chalid Arrab by armbar at Bushido 3.
A rematch with “Minotoro” Nogueira took place at Bushido 4 but Nakamura lost the two-round decision. At the PRIDE Final Conflict show, he scored a career-making victory over Brazilian Top Team fighter Murilo Bustamante (Pictures).
It was a unanimous decision win and opened the door for a bout with Team Quest fighter Dan Henderson (Pictures) at PRIDE 28. Unfortunately, a bizarre slam caused a serious injury to Nakamura and the bout was over in less than 90 seconds.
Kazuhiro took out K-1 kickboxer Stefan Leko (Pictures) with strikes in less than a minute at PRIDE 29. He won an impressive unanimous decision over former UFC heavyweight champion Kevin Randleman (Pictures) at the 2005 Total Elimination show. The bout served as the opening round of the Middleweight Grand Prix and Nakamura advanced to face Wanderlei Silva (Pictures) in the quarterfinals.
It was an exciting battle but a poorly timed attempt to discard his gi top left him open for attack and he fell to a barrage of strikes late in the first round.
MY PICK: Nakamura.
I can’t believe I’m actually picking him over Vovchanchyn. Years ago I never would’ve thought it but three things brought me to this conclusion.
One reason is that Nakamura has proven to be one tough protégé for Yoshida. This guy is for real and Silva was the first guy to ever stop him with strikes. He’s also shown steady improvement from fight to fight.
Although he looks more fit and faster, Vovchanchyn didn’t show the same power in his hands as a light heavyweight that he did as a heavyweight. Kondo took a lot of abuse and he was small for this tournament. If he didn’t go out from the strikes of a former crusher, I don’t see Nakamura going down.
A final reason would be twofold: Nakamura’s ability to go the distance coupled with Vovchanchyn’s susceptibility to submission is a bad combination. I feel Nakamura takes it by decision.
