Growth of Mixed Martial Arts in Russia and Central Europe

There was a time when if you thought of mixed martial arts fighters you automatically thought of fighters from the US and Brazil, with the occasional Brit thrown in for good measure. But now the sport truly has become a worldwide phenomenon, with fighter’s competing from all over the world, including Russia and other Eastern European countries. It is no surprise really, because as the area has a rich history of athletes competing and winning gold in a range of different combat sports such as boxing, kickboxing, judo and wrestling. Now their fighters are competing in the sports biggest organizations, including the UFC. So who are the legendary fighters from the East and who are the new stars that are waiting to stake their claim.

It is impossible to not to talk about MMA fighters from Eastern Europe without mentioning Russian Fedor Ermelianenko, who, although never fought in the UFC, he had a distinguished career fighting in organisations such as RINGS, Strikeforce, M-1 Global and the much missed PRIDE Fighting Championships. He is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest heavyweight MMA fighters of all time.  With an amazing record of 34 – 4, he managed to remain undefeated for nearly a decade before he had a streak of three loses. 

He spent much of his career fighting in Japan, starting with the RINGS, whose championships were always held in a tournament style. Fedor had his first professional loss due to a controversial cut, but he did go on to claim the RINGS Heavyweight Class Championship and then in the last ever RINGS tournament, he won the Rings Absolute Class Championship by defeating Chris Haseman. It was then he started fighting for the PRIDE organisation, where he went on to gain legendary status by remaining undefeated for over six years. Dana White had tried to negotiate a deal for Ermelianenko to sign for the UFC, but it was not to be and he retired from MMA in 2012. He is a true fighting legend that competed nationally in Judo and internationally in Combat Sambo. He has now embarked on a political career and is currently a member of Russia's Council of Physical Fitness and Sport.

Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic was a heavyweight Croatian kickboxer and MMA fighter, he went on to have an illustrious career in both disciplines. He started his fighting career in the K-1 Championship and then made the switch over to mixed martial arts when he signed for the Japanese PRIDE organisation. Making the switch from kickboxing, it was his stand up game and takedown defence that made him such a formidable opponent. He did sign for the UFC and finished with a record of 27-10-2 in MMA.  He then returned to the K-1 ring and in 2012 he won the K-1 World Grand Prix final. He made an unsuccessful return to MMA in 2013, but is still planning to continue fighting under kickboxing rules in 2014.

Andrei Arlovski from Belarus, but fighting out of Chicago, not only fought in the UFC, but actually held the undisputed Heavyweight title. He first he beat former champion Tim Sylvia for the Interim title at UFC 51 and defended the title twice before meeting Sylvia in a rematch. This time Sylvia regained the Heavyweight title, also winning a rematch a few months later. After three more victories in the UFC, Arlovski ended his association with the UFC. He has fought in a number of  organizations, including Affliction, Strikeforce and now currently fights in the World Series of Fighting. Like a lot of fighters that are coming out of the former Soviet bloc, Andrei Arlovski has a back ground in the Russian fighting art of Sambo, though he was mostly remembered for his striking, for a while trained under the esteemed boxing coach Freddie Roach.

Krzysztof “The Polish Experiment” Soszynski has lived in Canada since the age of ten, but is one of the new breed of fighters that have led the way for more fighters to come and compete from Eastern Europe. The one time pro wrestler made the switch to mixed martial arts and made an impact straight away, fighting for a host of different organisations before getting his chance to fight on the Ultimate Fighter reality show series 8. Soszynski fought his way to the semi-final, where he lost to Brazilian grappler Vinny Magalhaes. Fighting at light-heavyweight, he has a UFC record of 6-3, but last fought in December 2011, where he suffered a serious concussion and has not been passed as fit to fight since, though he is still training and hoping to make a return in the near future.

We are now seeing a rise in the number of fighters coming from Russia and having a pedigree in the Russian martial art of Sambo, which is a grappling based combat system devised for the Russian military. Sambo has a reputation for aggressive takedowns and leg attacks. Some fighters see it as the grappling art that bridges the gap between Brazilian jiu jitsu and wrestling, so Sambo experts are finding that more and more western fighters want to train in the art. 

Rustam Khabilov is a rising star in the UFC, he hails from the Dagestan region of Russia and he trains at Greg Jackson's facility in Albuquerque. He currently has an impressive record of 17-1 and has a four fight contract with the UFC. Khabilov has a background in Combat Sambo and has held regional and national titles and in 2007 was World Combat Sambo Champion.

One of the most exciting fighters emerging in the UFC lightweight division is Khabib Nurmagomedov from the Dagestan region of Russia.  He is currently on an amazing 21-0 record and has a 5-0 record since signing for the UFC. Nicknamed the Eagle, before signing for the UFC he had fought in various mixed martial arts organisations in his homeland of Russia. Khabib Nurmagomedov has also competed in Combat Sambo, winning the Russian National Championship and was also two-times World Champion. He also holds a black belt in judo.

Heavyweight Nikita Krylov is the first Ukrainian mixed martial artist to sign for the UFC. He is a fighter with a background in striking martial arts, he has a Master of Sports of Ukraine in Kyokushin Karate and hand to hand combat. He currently has a 16-3 record and has only ever had one fight that has lasted longer than one round, including his last fight, against Walt Harris that lasted only 25 seconds. He is usually fighting in the heavyweight category, but is considering dropping down to light-heavyweight. 

The popularity of mixed martial arts is growing all the time and many fighters are making the move from more traditional martial arts to fighting in MMA. Although a select few fighters travel to America to fight, there is still a big demand for good coaches, along with authentic training equipment and accessories for fighters that fight in Eastern Europe.