41 KOs in 66 official MMA fights, 61 victories in 63 kickboxing fights, 37-fight winning streak in MMA that took 4 years, status of one of the best heavyweights in the world and the best striker in early days of PRIDE.

Legendary Igor Vovchanchin it one of the most beloved and well-known MMA fighters from CIS area. He won against many top-level fighters and won in dozens of tournaments.

Tonight we are going to remember eight-man tournament International Fighting Championship that was held on March 30, 1996 in Kiev, Ukraine. There were a few great Russian and Ukrainian fighters plus very strong team from US, only natural heavyweights. The first opponent of Igor was Fred Floyd who’s weight was 170 kg.

In the semifinal Igor’s opponent was the real beast. Two-meter tall Paul “The Polar Bear” Varelans was the true UFC veteran even back in 96. He fought in the Octagon 8 times and was the finalist of UFC 7 tournament. It was a real warrior who took on anyone and made a brawl. The video of the fight against Igor became viral and was watched around the world.

Two very difficult fights were ended, Igor won in both of them, but the final was ahead. Another strong opponent John Dixon weighted 120 kg and had very fast two fights, slightly more than 2 minutes for each. American was fresh and full of power, he was much bigger and taller than Igor. But nothing could scare Igor, so he fearlessly stepped into the cage to face his last opponent.