Igor Zinoviev is a Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

n former mixed martial artist

Mixed martial arts

Mixed Martial Arts is a full contact combat sport that allows the use of both striking and grappling techniques, both standing and on the ground, including boxing, wrestling, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, muay Thai, kickboxing, karate, judo and other styles. The roots of modern mixed martial arts can be...

. He competed in the Extreme Fighting

Battlecade Extreme Fighting

Battlecade: Extreme Fighting, sometimes referred to simply as Extreme Fighting, is a now defunct mixed martial arts promotion which hosted four events in the USA and Canada between 1995 and 1997. Although few events were held, a number of well known fighters competed for the promotion...

 organization, holding the middleweight

Middleweight (MMA)

The middleweight division in mixed martial arts can refer to a number of different weight classes:*UFC's & Strikeforce's middleweight division, which groups competitors within 171 to 185 lb...

 title until their demise, then moved to the Ultimate Fighting Championship

Ultimate Fighting Championship

The Ultimate Fighting Championship is the largest mixed martial arts promotion company in the world that hosts most of the top-ranked fighters in the sport...

. Most recently, he coached the Chicago Red Bears

Chicago Red Bears

The Chicago Red Bears were an International Fight League team based in Chicago, Illinois. Coached by MMA fighter Igor Zinoviev the Red Bears were one of four teams established at the beginning of the 2007 season.-Record/roster:...

 in the International Fight League

International Fight League

The International Fight League was an American mixed martial arts promotion billed as the world's first MMA league. It was founded on January 7, 2006 and closed on July 31, 2008...

.http://www.ifl.tv/Team-Red-Bears.html

Early life and training

Zinoviev grew up in St. Petersburg, Russia. Sickly and weak as a youth due to meningitis

Meningitis

Meningitis is inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, known collectively as the meninges. The inflammation may be caused by infection with viruses, bacteria, or other microorganisms, and less commonly by certain drugs...

, he was unable to walk until the age of four. To overcome this handicap, he swam for exercise, becoming skilled enough that he entered a Russian sports academy. There, he trained in boxing

Boxing

Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...

, judo

Judo

is a modern martial art and combat sport created in Japan in 1882 by Jigoro Kano. Its most prominent feature is its competitive element, where the object is to either throw or takedown one's opponent to the ground, immobilize or otherwise subdue one's opponent with a grappling maneuver, or force an...

, and Combat sambo

Sambo (martial art)

Sambo is a Russian martial art and combat sport. The word "SAMBO" is an acronym for SAMooborona Bez Oruzhiya, which literally translates as "self-defense without weapons". Sambo is relatively modern since its development began in the early 1920s by the Soviet Red Army to improve their hand to hand...

. When he came of age, he enlisted in the Soviet army, spending two years in an elite special forces squad, followed by four years on a municipal police force after his discharge from the army. Like many Russian mixed martial artists, he received further training while serving in the Russian military and police forces.

Mixed martial arts career

A chance meeting with an American businessman in a Turkish bath convinced Zinoviev to become a professional fighter, as the businessman told Zinoviev that he could arrange fights for Zinoviev in America. After he arrived in New York, the promised opportunities did not materialize, so Zinoviev made his own way, participating in "about ten" underground fights held clandestinely in warehouses in Brooklyn

Brooklyn

Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...

 and Queens

Queens

Queens is the easternmost of the five boroughs of New York City. The largest borough in area and the second-largest in population, it is coextensive with Queens County, an administrative division of New York state, in the United States....

.

Zinoviev's first sanctioned mixed martial arts fight was at the inaugural World Extreme Fighting

World Extreme Fighting

World Extreme Fighting is the second longest continuously running mixed martial arts promoter in the world. It has hosted many top-ranked fighters in the 46 events produced since it began in 1997. WEF was originally founded by Jamie Levine, himself an MMA fighter with a 4-0 record, who once held...

 event in 1995 in Wilmington, North Carolina

Wilmington, North Carolina

Wilmington is a port city in and is the county seat of New Hanover County, North Carolina, United States. The population is 106,476 according to the 2010 Census, making it the eighth most populous city in the state of North Carolina...

, where he defeated Mario Sperry

Mario Sperry

Mario Sperry is a Brazilian heavyweight martial artist. His specialty is Brazilian jiu-jitsu, grappling and ground fighting.-Career:Sperry first broke onto the sport Jiu-Jitsu scene in the early eighties...

 via cut stoppage to claim the organization's middleweight title, a title he held until the organization's dissolution in 1998. He also fought in Vale Tudo Japan

Vale Tudo Japan

Vale Tudo Japan was an annual mixed martial arts tournament held in Japan from 1994 to 1999 with a reunion event in 2009.-Vale Tudo Japan 1994:Vale Tudo Japan 1994 was held on July 29, 1994 at the Tokyo Bay NK Hall in Urayasu, Japan....

, defeating Enson Inoue

Enson Inoue

Enson Inoue is a Japanese American mixed martial artist. He has a professional MMA record of 12-8-0. He is a former Shooto Heavyweight Champion. He had also previously fought in Pride Fighting Championships, the biggest mixed martial arts organization at the time...

. Zinoviev's final mixed martial arts bout (to date) was against Frank Shamrock

Frank Shamrock

Frank Shamrock is a retired mixed martial arts fighter. Shamrock was the first to hold the UFC Middleweight Championship and retired as the four-time defending undefeated champion...

 at UFC 16

UFC 16

UFC 16: Battle in the Bayou was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on March 13, 1998 in New Orleans, Louisiana...

. 22 seconds into the match, Shamrock took Zinoviev down with a powerful slam that knocked him unconscious and broke his collarbone, finishing his fighting career. Since that time, he has worked as a personal trainer

Personal trainer

A personal trainer is a fitness professional involved in exercise prescription and instruction. They motivate clients by setting goals and providing feedback and accountability to clients. Trainers also measure their client's strengths and weaknesses with fitness assessments...

 and bodyguard

Bodyguard

A bodyguard is a type of security operative or government agent who protects a person—usually a famous, wealthy, or politically important figure—from assault, kidnapping, assassination, stalking, loss of confidential information, terrorist attack or other threats.Most important public figures such...

.

In November 2006, the International Fight League

International Fight League

The International Fight League was an American mixed martial arts promotion billed as the world's first MMA league. It was founded on January 7, 2006 and closed on July 31, 2008...

 announced that Zinoviev would coach the new IFL team the Chicago Red Bears

Chicago Red Bears

The Chicago Red Bears were an International Fight League team based in Chicago, Illinois. Coached by MMA fighter Igor Zinoviev the Red Bears were one of four teams established at the beginning of the 2007 season.-Record/roster:...

, which would consist primarily of Russian fighters.

Mixed martial arts record

|-
| Loss
| 4-1-2
|  Frank Shamrock

Frank Shamrock

Frank Shamrock is a retired mixed martial arts fighter. Shamrock was the first to hold the UFC Middleweight Championship and retired as the four-time defending undefeated champion...

| KO (Slam)
| UFC 16

UFC 16

UFC 16: Battle in the Bayou was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on March 13, 1998 in New Orleans, Louisiana...

| 1998-03-13
| 1
| 0:22
|
| For UFC Light Heavyweight Championship
|-
| Draw
| 4-0-2
|  Osami Shibuya
| Draw
| Pancrase – Alive 11
| 1997-12-20
| 2
| 3:00
|
|
|-
| Draw
| 4-0-1
|  John Lober

John Lober

John "The Machine" Lober is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the Light Heavyweight division. He lost his last fight at Cage Wars Championship: Nightmare against Lee McKibbin on November 29th, 2009...

| Draw
| EF 3 – Extreme Fighting 3
| 1996-10-18
| 3
| 5:00
|
|
|-
| Win
| 4-0
|  Enson Inoue

Enson Inoue

Enson Inoue is a Japanese American mixed martial artist. He has a professional MMA record of 12-8-0. He is a former Shooto Heavyweight Champion. He had also previously fought in Pride Fighting Championships, the biggest mixed martial arts organization at the time...

| TKO (Punches)
| VTJ 1996-Vale Tudo Japan 1996
| 1996-07-07
| 1
| 0:44
|
|
|-
| Win
| 3-0
|  Steve Faulkner

Steve Faulkner

Stephen Andrew "Steve" Faulkner is an English former footballer who played in the Football League as a central defender for Sheffield United, Stockport County and York City. He then moved into non-league football with Frickley Athletic.-External links:* at Neil Brown's site...

| Submission (Choke)
| EF 2-Extreme Fighting 2
| 1996-04-26
| 1
| 0:44
|
|
|-
| Win
| 2-0
|  Mario Sperry

Mario Sperry

Mario Sperry is a Brazilian heavyweight martial artist. His specialty is Brazilian jiu-jitsu, grappling and ground fighting.-Career:Sperry first broke onto the sport Jiu-Jitsu scene in the early eighties...

| TKO
| EF-Extreme Fighting 1
| 1995-11-18
| 1
| 11:39
|
|
|-
| Win
| 1-0
|  Harold German
| Submission
| EF 1 – Extreme Fighting 1
| 1995-11-18
| 1
| 0:40
|
|

Personal life

Igor Zinoviev has a 15 year old son, Daniel and a wife Tetyana . Currently they are living in New Jersey. They live in a small town a few minutes from the ocean. His son is the beaming image of a younger Igor, taking a liking in martial arts and swimming, just like his father. He has participated in the junior olympics, finishing at the top of his class. He clocked one of the fastest times in the Junior Olympics.

External links

• Igor Zinoviev IFL Page
• http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0328,duffy,45406,3.html Biography
• http://www.sherdog.com/news/news.asp?n_id=6176 IFL announcement