Posted By DanielFletcher
A Welterweight Fedor.
The hope and desire that must be felt by M-1 Global personnel and fight fans in the former Eastern Bloc alike. There is an undeniable void, with the Last Emperor’s longstanding reign brought to an end, of a dominant Russian champion tearing a hole through his division with the verve and cold tenacity that only a warrior from the steppes has imbued in his heart and soul. It is in part, forlorn longing, and part excitement at the prospect of new blood cutting a swathe across the sport and bringing more glory on his motherland, his promotion and his team. It is the hope that Shamil Zavurov will become a welterweight monster in the sport, the man simply nicknamed “champion?
The austere simplicity of the nickname is indicative of both the man and the country. A namesake of the great Emelianenko, the poet Fyodor Tyutchev, famously remarked that ‘Russia?cannot be understood with the mind? Real talk. This is a country that suffered thirty million war casualties in the Axis Powers invasion, and still won. This country is where Le Grande Armée of Napoleon Bonaparte came unstuck in the steppes, and was rebuffed on the Road to Moscow. This country dominates the world map; it’s huge, bloated presence stretching from the borders of Easter Europe and Poland, Finland, Belarus and Ukraine, right across the Middle East and to the very furthest eastern stretches of the globe, sitting north of China, North Korea and Japan. Its size alone boggles the mind, let alone the amazing disparity of climes and environments within its borders. From the frozen steppes, to the sub-tropical forests around Sochi of the south, to the perilous, artic hell that is northeastern Siberia. And its recent history! Tsarist backwardness, revolution, communism, perestroika?br />
Russia is a country that breeds tough men.
Zavurov is no different. He displays that very attribute in the ring, with his combination of strikes and throws, positional grappling and balance. He maintains composure, and unleashes his skill via controlled aggression. It is a sight we’ve seen before from fighters of Russia, but no less impressive for it.
The austere nickname befits Zavurov the man too. He is of the Rus tribe ?the trademark thousand-yard-stare in place, through dark, unwavering eyes. The comparison with Fedor is not a frivolous one to make either ?beyond the obvious fighting style and shared nationality, there are other legitimate synergies between the two athletes.
Zavurov, like his famous compatriot, competes simultaneously in Mixed Martial Arts and Sambo. Like Fedor, he is successful in both. He has a half-century of victories in Combat Sambo, and a current total of three world titles in the sport. He made his professional Mixed Martial arts debut in 2004 in Ukraine, aged only 19, and prefaced the rest of his career with nearly a half-century of victories in amateur rules MMA to boot. He has five knockout wins, four by submission and five decisions, showing a clear variation with his means of victory. Beyond stylistics and nationality, clearly statistically alone he was something of a wunderkind.
His current stat sheet reads at 14-1, in the professional ranks. Subsequent to his debut victory, he competed extensively in the amateurs, and ?apparently somewhat tentatively ?returned to the pros. He beat the (currently) 12-4 Mukahmed Ashuev in 2007, with a flurry of punches in the second round, and the following year won two fights, one by armbar and the other by decision. In 2009, his sole fight was a controversial loss to the 8-1 win/loss (as of 2011) Rashid Magomedov, and it was a split-decision that many within the European MMA scene feel was inaccurate. In this too he shares a synergic career pattern with Fedor Emelianenko ?both men suffered a controversial, much belied “loss?in their fifth fight, and in Fedor’s case it would remain the only one on his record until the final fights of his career a decade later. Should Zavurov’s career follow a similar pattern, I’m sure neither he nor his management ?nor for that matter, the watching world ?could be forgiven for holding the welterweight aloft with Emelianenko as the shining lights of Russian sport.
It was Winston Churchill who once said, “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.?That is certainly true. Churchill was the master at spurring people through dark times ?he did so for an entire nation, as Great Britain and its Empire stood alone against **** Germany in 1940, with no support or allies against the tyrant armies sweeping across Europe. And it is this determination to come back from adversity and setback that perhaps was the catalyst for Zavurov’s surge to prominence in M-1 Global, as the vastly experienced young man who fought professionally less than once a year on average for the first six years of his MMA career suddenly went on a tear through Europe’s welterweight division, ultimately capturing and defending the M-1 Challenge World Welterweight championship and defending it, for what currently stands at a 14-1 slate.
The split decision loss was the M-1 Global debut for ‘Champion? It was his first fight in St Petersburg, the long time capital of Russia in the days before communism and still the second largest and second most important city in the world’s largest country. An M-1 Global card in St Petersburg is a big deal for a Russian fighter, and the young man acquitted himself well, only to lose a controversial decision. But in Churchillian terms, the fight only kick-started his career on a bigger stage than on the Ukrainian regionals; after a solid win in Omsk, he was back in Vadim Finkelstein’s organisation only two months later, competing against Ra*** Iboyan on M-1 Selection 2010: Eastern Europe round 2, in the second of what would be NINE fights that Zavurov had in 2010 alone. Talk about Dana and the UFC guys, “the best fight the best three times a year? Bah humbug. Zavurov fought nine times in 2010, four times for M-1 Global, and twice against solid competition on Moscow shows and once in Prague.
That is a fighter.
The combined win/loss records of all his opponents he faced in his perfect 9-0-0 streak in 2010 was 75-58. A mixed bag, but one positively filled with ring time. He was facing European fighters of experience, the kind of men designed and if not custom made, then at least custom booked for fights against young fighters for the prospects to sharpen their tools, hone their trade and gain experience at the expense of. And he not only “got rounds in?and handled them all, he scored five finishes, three in the first round and one in the second. In all those nine fights, only two resembled even contests. And worse for potential opponents is that Shamil ‘Champion?Zavurov is only getting better.
A Welterweight Fedor.
The hope and desire that must be felt by M-1 Global personnel and fight fans in the former Eastern Bloc alike. There is an undeniable void, with the Last Emperor’s longstanding reign brought to an end, of a dominant Russian champion tearing a hole through his division with the verve and cold tenacity that only a warrior from the steppes has imbued in his heart and soul. It is in part, forlorn longing, and part excitement at the prospect of new blood cutting a swathe across the sport and bringing more glory on his motherland, his promotion and his team. It is the hope that Shamil Zavurov will become a welterweight monster in the sport, the man simply nicknamed “champion?
The austere simplicity of the nickname is indicative of both the man and the country. A namesake of the great Emelianenko, the poet Fyodor Tyutchev, famously remarked that ‘Russia?cannot be understood with the mind? Real talk. This is a country that suffered thirty million war casualties in the Axis Powers invasion, and still won. This country is where Le Grande Armée of Napoleon Bonaparte came unstuck in the steppes, and was rebuffed on the Road to Moscow. This country dominates the world map; it’s huge, bloated presence stretching from the borders of Easter Europe and Poland, Finland, Belarus and Ukraine, right across the Middle East and to the very furthest eastern stretches of the globe, sitting north of China, North Korea and Japan. Its size alone boggles the mind, let alone the amazing disparity of climes and environments within its borders. From the frozen steppes, to the sub-tropical forests around Sochi of the south, to the perilous, artic hell that is northeastern Siberia. And its recent history! Tsarist backwardness, revolution, communism, perestroika?br />
Russia is a country that breeds tough men.
Zavurov is no different. He displays that very attribute in the ring, with his combination of strikes and throws, positional grappling and balance. He maintains composure, and unleashes his skill via controlled aggression. It is a sight we’ve seen before from fighters of Russia, but no less impressive for it.
The austere nickname befits Zavurov the man too. He is of the Rus tribe ?the trademark thousand-yard-stare in place, through dark, unwavering eyes. The comparison with Fedor is not a frivolous one to make either ?beyond the obvious fighting style and shared nationality, there are other legitimate synergies between the two athletes.
Zavurov, like his famous compatriot, competes simultaneously in Mixed Martial Arts and Sambo. Like Fedor, he is successful in both. He has a half-century of victories in Combat Sambo, and a current total of three world titles in the sport. He made his professional Mixed Martial arts debut in 2004 in Ukraine, aged only 19, and prefaced the rest of his career with nearly a half-century of victories in amateur rules MMA to boot. He has five knockout wins, four by submission and five decisions, showing a clear variation with his means of victory. Beyond stylistics and nationality, clearly statistically alone he was something of a wunderkind.
His current stat sheet reads at 14-1, in the professional ranks. Subsequent to his debut victory, he competed extensively in the amateurs, and ?apparently somewhat tentatively ?returned to the pros. He beat the (currently) 12-4 Mukahmed Ashuev in 2007, with a flurry of punches in the second round, and the following year won two fights, one by armbar and the other by decision. In 2009, his sole fight was a controversial loss to the 8-1 win/loss (as of 2011) Rashid Magomedov, and it was a split-decision that many within the European MMA scene feel was inaccurate. In this too he shares a synergic career pattern with Fedor Emelianenko ?both men suffered a controversial, much belied “loss?in their fifth fight, and in Fedor’s case it would remain the only one on his record until the final fights of his career a decade later. Should Zavurov’s career follow a similar pattern, I’m sure neither he nor his management ?nor for that matter, the watching world ?could be forgiven for holding the welterweight aloft with Emelianenko as the shining lights of Russian sport.
It was Winston Churchill who once said, “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.?That is certainly true. Churchill was the master at spurring people through dark times ?he did so for an entire nation, as Great Britain and its Empire stood alone against **** Germany in 1940, with no support or allies against the tyrant armies sweeping across Europe. And it is this determination to come back from adversity and setback that perhaps was the catalyst for Zavurov’s surge to prominence in M-1 Global, as the vastly experienced young man who fought professionally less than once a year on average for the first six years of his MMA career suddenly went on a tear through Europe’s welterweight division, ultimately capturing and defending the M-1 Challenge World Welterweight championship and defending it, for what currently stands at a 14-1 slate.
The split decision loss was the M-1 Global debut for ‘Champion? It was his first fight in St Petersburg, the long time capital of Russia in the days before communism and still the second largest and second most important city in the world’s largest country. An M-1 Global card in St Petersburg is a big deal for a Russian fighter, and the young man acquitted himself well, only to lose a controversial decision. But in Churchillian terms, the fight only kick-started his career on a bigger stage than on the Ukrainian regionals; after a solid win in Omsk, he was back in Vadim Finkelstein’s organisation only two months later, competing against Ra*** Iboyan on M-1 Selection 2010: Eastern Europe round 2, in the second of what would be NINE fights that Zavurov had in 2010 alone. Talk about Dana and the UFC guys, “the best fight the best three times a year? Bah humbug. Zavurov fought nine times in 2010, four times for M-1 Global, and twice against solid competition on Moscow shows and once in Prague.
That is a fighter.
The combined win/loss records of all his opponents he faced in his perfect 9-0-0 streak in 2010 was 75-58. A mixed bag, but one positively filled with ring time. He was facing European fighters of experience, the kind of men designed and if not custom made, then at least custom booked for fights against young fighters for the prospects to sharpen their tools, hone their trade and gain experience at the expense of. And he not only “got rounds in?and handled them all, he scored five finishes, three in the first round and one in the second. In all those nine fights, only two resembled even contests. And worse for potential opponents is that Shamil ‘Champion?Zavurov is only getting better.
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