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Keep in mind that there isnt too many sambo gym/dojos and as a judoka, some of the most deadliest and most effective judokas were sambo based judokas. Now considering the scarcity of this art form, lets look at the fact that through out every era, there has always been a legendary fighter that wielded the power of sambo!
Gokor Chivichyan, trained in Sambo during soviet union run Armenia, came to America and defeated every single studnet of Gene Lebell and became his protégé. Pretty much ruled the dark era of MMA. Gracies refused to let him fight in the UFC. Not to mention Rickson taking an L from Ron Tripp who was another sambo master.
Oleg Taktarov, he was the defintion of sambo. Had excellent submissions and very skilled. He was super impressive considering the fact that he never really trained that hard. Yet he WON UFC 6 and was the tournament winner and in a way, he is a UFC champion of his own kind.
Fedor Emelianeko, he was the face of sambo and competed in sambo while building his legendary MMA career in one of the most vicious and dangerous eras of MMA fighters. In his book, he mentioned the importance of relaxation and that sambo taught him to relax because of the ukemi skills from judo but he also learned to be a thinker because of the intricate nature of sambo techniques. He credits not just the techniques but the mindset required to learn it.
Khabib Nurmagomedov, he represented sambo as much as Fedor did and he took extreme pride of being a sambo fighter. He retired undefeated and was a UFC champion.
Honorable mention:
Karo Parisyan, was a judoka but was trained by judo Gene Lebell and Gokor Chivichyan. He was extremely impressive and was a UFC contender set to fight Matt Hughes. His rise to the UFC was because of his technical mastery of judo skills infused with sambo submissions. He was addicted to lasagna and cheese cakes and ate it before fights. Bad diet and was not the most dedicated athlete.
Gokor Chivichyan, trained in Sambo during soviet union run Armenia, came to America and defeated every single studnet of Gene Lebell and became his protégé. Pretty much ruled the dark era of MMA. Gracies refused to let him fight in the UFC. Not to mention Rickson taking an L from Ron Tripp who was another sambo master.
Oleg Taktarov, he was the defintion of sambo. Had excellent submissions and very skilled. He was super impressive considering the fact that he never really trained that hard. Yet he WON UFC 6 and was the tournament winner and in a way, he is a UFC champion of his own kind.
Fedor Emelianeko, he was the face of sambo and competed in sambo while building his legendary MMA career in one of the most vicious and dangerous eras of MMA fighters. In his book, he mentioned the importance of relaxation and that sambo taught him to relax because of the ukemi skills from judo but he also learned to be a thinker because of the intricate nature of sambo techniques. He credits not just the techniques but the mindset required to learn it.
Khabib Nurmagomedov, he represented sambo as much as Fedor did and he took extreme pride of being a sambo fighter. He retired undefeated and was a UFC champion.
Honorable mention:
Karo Parisyan, was a judoka but was trained by judo Gene Lebell and Gokor Chivichyan. He was extremely impressive and was a UFC contender set to fight Matt Hughes. His rise to the UFC was because of his technical mastery of judo skills infused with sambo submissions. He was addicted to lasagna and cheese cakes and ate it before fights. Bad diet and was not the most dedicated athlete.
