Igor Vovchanchyn

Still just 33 years old, ‘Ice Cold’ Vovchanchyn is a battle-hardened veteran of the lawless bare-fisted Russian fighting scene of the mid-1990s. The Ukrainian kickboxer’s verifiable MMA record stands at an impressive 45-9-1 but he has almost certainly competed in at least another 20 or so fights. Vovchanchyn has spent most of his career fighting (and usually beating) bigger men. At just 5’8” and around 220 pounds he’s been dwarfed by numerous opponents but still handed out some real beatings. Many felt his April 2005 drop down to 205 pounds would re-invigorate his career for a new era, but since then he’s gone 1-2 with his sole victory being a terribly dull decision win over Yuki Kondo. Vovchanchyn has not fought since August 2005 but even with a recent run of bad performances, fans are eagerly anticipating his return, whenever and wherever it comes.

Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson

Bursting onto the international scene at PRIDE 15 where he was presented to the Japanese audience as a homeless fighter who lived on a derelict bus (yes, really), ‘Rampage’ made an immediate impact. He lost to the great Kazushi Sakuraba but his electrifying performance, hilarious interview style and showmanship won him an army of fans. Currently 25-6-0 and only 28 years old, Jackson’s best may be yet to come. A powerful wrestler with numbing power in either hand he’s one of the few men to hold a win over UFC superstar Chuck Liddell. A pair of brutal KO losses to Wanderlei Silva and some serious rib and hand injuries seemed to hamper his performances during 2005. Contractual problems then led to him leaving PRIDE FC and signing with the extremely short-lived WFA for a match with Matt Lindland in July. Now, the UFC’s purchase of whatever is left of the WFA has given us the tantalising prospect of Quinton Jackson: ‘UFC star’.

The fight

Jackson opened the biggest fight of his life with a couple of range-finding jabs but Vovchanchyn responded with a stiff right hand that had the American clinching and looking for one of his trademark big slams. With both men trading body shots in the clinch, the European even went for an uncharacteristic leg trip takedown that Rampage easily avoided. Jackson threw a few knees to the body, with at least one of them accidentally straying below the belt. The always-calm Vovchanchyn took them and simply fired back with meaty hooks to Jackson’s ribs. Just over a minute into the fight the action stalled and the referee, likely eager for fireworks as much as every fan in the building, separated them.

The shorter Vovchanchyn landed a noisy kick to Jackson’s left thigh and again the American rushed forward behind a couple of punches, looking to secure a clinch. Both landed good knees but once again the pace slowed as they neutralized each other. Once again the official separated them but the action soon picked up as Vovchanchyn whipped a sudden left high kick onto the side of Jackson’s face.

Attempting to follow up with one of his blurring flurries, he had Jackson covering up and Vovchanchyn, seeing his opponent’s head exposed, jumped to guard for a guillotine choke. This proved to be a serious mistake, as instead of gaining the advantage he’d simply given his freakishly powerful rival the chance he’d been waiting for. Without hesitation, Jackson powered Vovchanchyn skywards for one of his spectacular slams, and this was a truly great one. Essentially he just picked him up, turned him in mid-air, and brought him crashing head and shoulders first to the mat with a pro-wrestling-style ‘Northern Lights Bomb’. The Puroresu-savvy Japanese crowd was surely pleased with this development.

Jackson to ground control

With Vovchanchyn now grounded just under three minutes into the fight, Jackson shifted to side control. By holding Jackson so close and using his leg effectively, the Ukrainian veteran survived well for a couple of minutes. Jackson wasn’t content to wait for an opening from that position and worked his way very nicely into a full mount. From this dominant position, Rampage went to work with heavy, heavy punches to both body and head. A hurt Vovchanchyn turned his body and bucked an off-balance and possibly over-eager Jackson off him.

Quickly back on his feet, ‘Ice Cold’ belted Jackson with a great right hook and followed up with a couple more shots and a knee to the body. Sadly for him, he once again got too close to Jackson and the American just hoisted him up like a troublesome child and again tried dropping him on his head. This time Vovchanchyn seemed to get an arm in the way and landed awkwardly on his back. Immediately looking for the guard, Vovchanchyn clung on desperately before going for an extremely unlikely leglock. Jackson broke free and was soon back on top, bashing away at Vovchanchyn in the corner.

Restarted in the middle, Vovchanchyn looked tired and was bleeding from the forehead and bridge of the noise. Even in an opponent’s guard, Jackson can be a devastating puncher, as he proved by whacking Vovchanchyn with a body shot that made the exceptionally durable veteran’s face contort in pain. Immediately holding his damaged ribs, Vovchanchyn was in no condition to continue and the fight was waved off 7:17 into what had been an enjoyable and hugely promising fight.

Vovchanchyn’s ribs took some time to heal and he didn’t fight for another eight months and, looking at his results since, he simply hasn’t been such a destructive force, except when faced with hugely inferior opposition. Whether the Jackson fight took a lot out of him, whether his grappling simply hasn’t progressed as much as other fighters or whether it was all those years of hard fights and competing multiple times in one night finally catching up with him is up for debate, but many fans are still awaiting the return of ‘the Old Igor’. The Jackson of late 2002 was on a roll, and Vovchanchyn was his first major test in PRIDE since his thrilling debut loss to Kazushi Sakuraba, and the charismatic American looked tremendous in by far the biggest win of his career at that point. He kept on winning, usually in style, until being brutally KO’ed by Wanderlei Silva just over a year later.

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