Vovchanchyn Igor Yaroslavovich is a Ukrainian athlete, professional kickboxer and mixed martial arts specialist.
Place of Birth, Education
He was born on August 6, 1973 in the village of Zolochiv of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (Ukrainian SSR).
During his studies at school, he was engaged in athletics and boxing, and, according to his own words, often got into fights.
He began his professional career in kickboxing at the invitation of coaches.
Sports career
In 1993, he won the title of world champion in kickboxing according to IAKSA. During the same period, he managed to become a kickboxing champion in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).
Career in mixed martial arts
In April 1995, one of the first Ukrainian mixed martial arts tournaments “Honor of the Warrior” took place in Kharkiv. Vovchanchyn was invited to take part in the competition, where he defeated two opponents. However, in the third match, he was defeated due to a painful hold on the leg. After the tournament, the athlete began to master this technique.
At the World Mixed Martial Arts Championship, which was held by the IAFC organization in Moscow on September 25-26, 1995, Vovchanchyn arrived with the basic skills of a wrestler. In the tournament, he won three victories – twice defeated Brazilian athlete Adilson Lima, and also defeated Russian Sergei Akinen. In the fourth fight against a sambo wrestler from Tula, Mikhail Ilyukhin, Vovchanchyn was defeated. However, this victory is not considered indisputable, since during the execution of a choke hold, Ilyukhin pressed his chin on the opponent’s eye, which went unnoticed by the referee.
In January 1996, the athlete took part in his third tournament – “Mr. Strong Sekai”, held in Minsk. Among the participants of the competition, fighters from the oriental training school prevailed, who mastered wushu, jujutsu and sekai-no kempo. Within one evening, Vovchanchyna managed to defeat three rivals: Ukrainian Sergei Bondarovich, as well as Belarusian athletes Roman Tikunov and Mykola Yatsuk. This victory was his first in a professional mixed martial arts tournament.
During 1996, Vovchanchyn won a number of victories in various tournaments. In Donetsk, he participates in the Ukrainian Octagon, where he wins three victories by knockout in the evening.
He also became the winner of the First Mixed Martial Arts Championship of Ukraine and the first tournament of the International Fighting Championship (IFC), held in Kyiv. During the tournament, Lupus had to go against American athletes, who significantly surpassed him in anthropometric data. Among them was UFC veteran Paul Varlance, as well as punching fighters John Dixon and Fred Floyd. After defeating all rivals, Vovchanchyn won the championship title of the tournament.
By the end of the year, he also competed in a tournament in Donetsk, where he won three fights by knockout and choke, and also took part in the main fights of the competition, which took place in Kharkiv and Moscow.
In May 1997, Vovchanchyn performed at the Ukrainian sanda tournament, which was held in Odessa, but after two victorious fights he was forced to stop participating due to a fracture of his right arm.
Three months later, he again entered the ring in Moscow, where he took part in the IAFC tournament for the Russian Cup. After defeating Russian fighter Vasily Kudin, the Ukrainian fighter reached the final, as the other participants refused to continue fighting due to fatigue after previous fights.
In early autumn of the same year, he knocked out three opponents at a freestyle tournament in Donetsk, after which he began to prepare for the World Cup, which was to be held in Israel. The championship took place on November 12, 1997 in Tel Aviv. At the same time, Vovchanchyn became the IAFC champion for the second time.
In 1998, the athlete won the title of champion at the Vale Tudo tournament – WVC. His opponents were Brazilians Palares and Rodrigues, as well as Nick Nutter.
Subsequently, Vovchanchyn will perform twice more in Brazil, entering the ring in the main fights of the 6th and 7th WVC tournaments.
PRIDE
On October 11, 1998, Vovchanchyn made his first appearance in the PRIDE Fighting Championship. Then the opponent was Canadian Gary Goodridge. The fight ended in the sixth minute of the first round with a technical knockout.
Since 1999, the athlete has regularly participated in PRIDE competitions. During the year, he won victories over Akira Shojia, Carlos Barreto, Mark Kerr and Francisco Bueno. After the fight with Bueno, the president of K-1 approached the wolf and handed him $ 1000, saying that he had never seen a knockout of this level.
Between performances in PRIDE, the athlete also had two fights on the territory of Ukraine, in the heavy weight category, as part of the international tournament “InterPride”. He won both battles.
In 2000, he became a participant in the Grand Prix of the PRIDE Championship. In the opening fight, he defeats Alex Otsuki, and in the following – the experienced Kazushi Sakuraba and, for the second time, Gary Goodridge, winning by technical knockouts. In the final fight of the tournament, the fighter lost to the American wrestler Mark Coleman, who is considered a legend of mixed martial arts.
For a long time, Vovchanchyn focused exclusively on performances in PRIDE, not missing a single stage of the championship from the 4th to the 15th.
In November 2001, at the invitation of the organizers, he took part in the RINGS championship held in Vilnius. His opponent could not enter the ring, so Vovchanyna was chosen a new opponent. Due to certain restrictions imposed by the agreements, the fighter was not able to use punches, so he used low kicks. Despite this, he won by technical knockout.
After that, Vovchanchyn returns to participating in PRIDE tournaments again. He fights with Valentine Overeeem, Heath Hiring, Quinton Jackson and Mirko Filipović. The last three fights have ended in defeats.
In 2004, Igor won several confident victories: two in PRIDE ahead of schedule, by knockouts, and another one as part of the free fight tournament “Water of Peresvet”, where he ended the fight with a painful hold on the leg.
Retirement
In 2005, continuing to participate in PRIDE tournaments, Vovchanchyn won two victories over Japanese athletes Yoshiki Takahashi and Yuki Kondo. However, in the summer, he makes a mistake in a duel with Alistair Overeem and is defeated by strangulation.
Subsequently, in a duel with the world judo champion Kazuhiro Nakamura, he lost by an ambiguous decision of the judges.
After that, during one of the trainings, Igor had a relapse of a long-standing injury – a fracture of his right arm. The condition was complicated by the general exhaustion of the body, accumulated over many years of intense competition. Recovery required surgery and subsequent rehabilitation. In addition to physical condition, psychological pressure against the background of recent defeats also had an effect. Because of these circumstances, Vovchanchyn decided to end his sports career.
Marital Status
He is married and has a daughter.
