Future MMA Star/Wrestling Convert?

[dsdoubled]

Some time back @tekkenfan posted a video titled "Wrestling Day at AKA". It featured Khabib, his brother or cousin, Deron Winn, Shawn Bunch, and the guy who is the topic of this thread:

The "Olympic level atlete" with the flexibility talking to Khabib is Boris Novachkov. Wrestling fans will certainly recognize his name. The guy is a bit quirky but unquestionably legit, 3x DI All American and Olympian/world team member for Bulgaria. Well, it looks like he will be coming to MMA eventually:

The guys is no doubt a bit nutty but his wrestling and athleticism is world class.

 

[tekkenfan]

Some time back @tekkenfan posted a video titled "Wrestling Day at AKA". It featured Khabib, his brother or cousin, Deron Winn, Shawn Bunch, and the guy who is the topic of this thread:

The "Olympic level atlete" with the flexibility talking to Khabib is Boris Novachkov. Wrestling fans will certainly recognize his name. The guy is a bit quirky but unquestionably legit, 3x DI All American and Olympian/world team member for Bulgaria. Well, it looks like he will be coming to MMA eventually:

The guys is no doubt a bit nutty but his wrestling and athleticism is world class.

well if he makes it far he will have a future since today mma wants reality tv stars as there champs

 

[dsdoubled]

well if he makes it far he will have a future since today mma wants reality tv stars as there champs

If he actually goes out and backs up his talk, he will rise fast. No doubt about it. He has a ton of MMA connections too. Obviously in the video he was at AKA but he has history with TJ Dilashaw, Chad Mendes, Urijah Faber, etc.

 

[biscuitsbrah]

Haha this guy is obsessed with stretching.
And damn, just found out who bunch is. That guy is ridiculously fast​

 

[dsdoubled]

Haha this guy is obsessed with stretching.
And damn, just found out who bunch is. That guy is ridiculously fast​

I didn't realize how.....nutty he is but damn is he a good wrestler.
-Multiple time High School National Champ in freestyle and Greco.
-High School National finalist in folkstyle.
-Olympian (8th).
-European silver medalist
-European bronze medalist
-3x Bulgarian National Freestyle champ
Id be very excited to see him enter MMA.

 

[dsdoubled]

Haha this guy is obsessed with stretching.
And damn, just found out who bunch is. That guy is ridiculously fast​

Check him out here doing sprints with Burroughs, Kamaru Usman, Jake Herbert, and many other greats.

Bunch is a beast. He doesn't seem too focused on MMA anymore but he could probably still be good if he gets the fire back.

 

[ArtemV]

Check him out here doing sprints with Burroughs, Kamaru Usman, Jake Herbert, and many other greats.

Bunch is a beast. He doesn't seem too focused on MMA anymore but he could probably still be good if he gets the fire back.

Nice, seems like some of the freestyle squad. Did Usman every accomplish anything in freestyle?

 

[ArtemV]

Bunch is good, but I remember him getting destroyed by Caldwell in Bellator. Both good wrestlers though.

 

[dsdoubled]

Nice, seems like some of the freestyle squad. Did Usman every accomplish anything in freestyle?

Many felt he had the physical attributes to become really good. You don't see too many NAIA/D II all Americans end up as residents at the main OTC. At least I'm not aware of many. Usman was trending up as he finished college with a D II National Title. I think he also probably benefitted some from Tervel Dlagnev, a college teammate from the same high school scene, doing very well in freestyle.

I don't believe Usman won any big freestyle titles. He made the university world team as a replacement and wound up wrestling well. He placed at some tough regional and national tourneys. He even made the finals of the tough Northern Plains tourney up at 96-97 kilos. In freestyle he has defeated guys who were DI national champs. Overall he was a very good wrestler who was probably about to get even better when he left for MMA.

 

[Dirty Holt]

Nice, seems like some of the freestyle squad. Did Usman every accomplish anything in freestyle?

He took 8th once at the US Open.

 

[Oblivian]

Bunch is good, but I remember him getting destroyed by Caldwell in Bellator. Both good wrestlers though.

Bunch just didn't translate well to MMA. He folded vs. Garcia, got dominated by Caldwell, and then lost his first fight outside of Bellator against someone who lost 5 of his next 6 after the Bunch fight. I figured he'd do a lot better than he did.

 

[NicholasJBasile]

Some time back @tekkenfan posted a video titled "Wrestling Day at AKA". It featured Khabib, his brother or cousin, Deron Winn, Shawn Bunch, and the guy who is the topic of this thread:

The "Olympic level atlete" with the flexibility talking to Khabib is Boris Novachkov. Wrestling fans will certainly recognize his name. The guy is a bit quirky but unquestionably legit, 3x DI All American and Olympian/world team member for Bulgaria. Well, it looks like he will be coming to MMA eventually:

The guys is no doubt a bit nutty but his wrestling and athleticism is world class.

Boris is my old roommate and one of my best friends -- I wreslted with him at Cal Poly and can't wait for his debut next weekend. He's the best athlete I've ever known.

 

[dsdoubled]

Boris is my old roommate and one of my best friends -- I wreslted with him at Cal Poly and can't wait for his debut next weekend. He's the best athlete I've ever known.

That's awesome man. I am expecting big things from him and his seemingly....eccentric behavior should put him over with fans. Obviously he is a really really good wrestler with a well rounded skill set. I too am looking forward to his debut. Any idea who he is fighting.

 

[NicholasJBasile]

That's awesome man. I am expecting big things from him and his seemingly....eccentric behavior should put him over with fans. Obviously he is a really really good wrestler with a well rounded skill set. I too am looking forward to his debut. Any idea who he is fighting.

Yeah he is fighting another very green fighter.

From a non bias standpoint, I am surprised Boris is going right into pro as he has very minimal MMA training now. As for his antics? Honestly I think he's just trying to get his name out there or something because I've never seen him act as he has recently haha

 

[dsdoubled]

Yeah he is fighting another very green fighter.
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From a non bias standpoint, I am surprised Boris is going right into pro as he has very minimal MMA training now. As for his antics? Honestly I think he's just trying to get his name out there or something because I've never seen him act as he has recently haha

This Inocencio kid is a formidable foe. Especially for an MMA debutant. I looked him up and see that he has been training and competing in MMA and muay thai for like 5 years now. While also training Bjj at the Gracie Barra run by Nick and Nate Diaz. On the bright side, if Boris can run through this guy and make his wrestling and athleticism work, he will be on the fast track.

 

[NicholasJBasile]

This Inocencio kid is a formidable foe. Especially for an MMA debutant. I looked him up and see that he has been training and competing in MMA and muay thai for like 5 years now. While also training Bjj at the Gracie Barra run by Nick and Nate Diaz. On the bright side, if Boris can run through this guy and make his wrestling and athleticism work, he will be on the fast track.

Yeah, honestly this could either go very well or very poorly for Boris. My personal bias and connection aside, I will concede that wrestlers many times think they are ready but have another thing coming. I have been training for longer than Boris and can attest that there are so many things that simply don't translate well to MMA. However, one of the reasons why I am so excited to see him compete is his performance IQ. He is the type of person that can adapt to all sports really; like I can teach him how to shoot a basketball and by the end of the day he'd probably beat me in a game of pickup. I really feel that he will excel in scrambles and positional control. One huge advantage he will have that you don't traditionally see from Eastern European wrestlers turned MMA fighters is that he has a strong background in folkstyle wrestling which puts infinitely more emphasis on control and down wrestling. Boris was phenomenal in these positions and will be superior to controlling fighters on the ground than most fighters that come from an Olympic wrestling background that seem to be good at takedowns but many times fail to keep their opponents down.

Once again, I feel it only fair to mention that I am largely bias due to my friendship. I hope I'm not overselling the guy, but I really have high hopes for him. Against someone with a lot more experience, he may have a lot of trouble. Time will tell.

 

[dsdoubled]

Yeah, honestly this could either go very well or very poorly for Boris. My personal bias and connection aside, I will concede that wrestlers many times think they are ready but have another thing coming. I have been training for longer than Boris and can attest that there are so many things that simply don't translate well to MMA. However, one of the reasons why I am so excited to see him compete is his performance IQ. He is the type of person that can adapt to all sports really; like I can teach him how to shoot a basketball and by the end of the day he'd probably beat me in a game of pickup. I really feel that he will excel in scrambles and positional control. One huge advantage he will have that you don't traditionally see from Eastern European wrestlers turned MMA fighters is that he has a strong background in folkstyle wrestling which puts infinitely more emphasis on control and down wrestling. Boris was phenomenal in these positions and will be superior to controlling fighters on the ground than most fighters that come from an Olympic wrestling background that seem to be good at takedowns but many times fail to keep their opponents down.

Once again, I feel it only fair to mention that I am largely bias due to my friendship. I hope I'm not overselling the guy, but I really have high hopes for him. Against someone with a lot more experience, he may have a lot of trouble. Time will tell.

I have been high on him for a while. He's trained with a lot of the Cali mma/wrestlers for a while and when i heard he threw Khabib in practice I started waiting for his debut. I have high hopes too. Just like I did for Deron Winn.

 

[NicholasJBasile]

I have been high on him for a while. He's trained with a lot of the Cali mma/wrestlers for a while and when i heard he threw Khabib in practice I started waiting for his debut. I have high hopes too. Just like I did for Deron Winn.

You have a very good eye -- Deron Winn is being passed up by many people because he's short which I feel is ridiculous. He just soundly defeated a formidable opponent with a lot of experience in Tom Lawlor.

 

[dsdoubled]

You have a very good eye -- Deron Winn is being passed up by many people because he's short which I feel is ridiculous. He just soundly defeated a formidable opponent with a lot of experience in Tom Lawlor.

Bro I feel like Winn has one of the best wrestling styles for MMA. He is powerful and not averse to big moves. He is incredibly strong.

As for our boy Boris. He lost the other night by split decision. Did you catch the fight?

 

[NicholasJBasile]

Bro I feel like Winn has one of the best wrestling styles for MMA. He is powerful and not averse to big moves. He is incredibly strong.

As for our boy Boris. He lost the other night by split decision. Did you catch the fight?

Agreed with Winn, and yes I did watch Boris fight. All I will say is this -- if Boris is to continue with MMA, he needs to put off MMA competition for another couple years and learn how to fight. Given what I saw, I am impressed that he made it all 3 rounds (I scored it 29/28 for his opponent). I love the guy but have not hung out with him for years and was out of touch with his preparation for the fight. Sadly, it did not appear that he put time in to properly train any fundamentals outside of his already excellent wrestling. When he actually used his wrestling, he looked great.