Yeah, I was there at that event too. It was a close event. Not a clear indication by any means. The two losses on the sambo side = 1 by DQ and another guy who had no business being there. In all honesty, it was a very even night. The other mtahces were very competative and exciting.
In the end, I think it is about who knows what they do better than the other guy. Not about which art is better than the other. It depends on what your goals are, what you are training for, etc.
About training in Russia, I have trained at Borec and Sambo 70. Sambo 70 is very sport sambo/judo oriented. Not combat sambo at all. Borec was much more progressive, more ground work, no gi, judo, sport sambo, sumo. A more well rounded experience than Sambo 70 IMO. My coach however (who has left the US and runs a club in St.Petersberg), was a combat sambo guy and we did tons of chokes, strikes, gi, no-gi, etc. His club is still linked with the military there.
I have also cross trained some catch, BJJ, judo, etc, and found some differences in perspective, movement, technique, etc. It helped me improve my game for sure. But this is the spirit of sambo anyway...always adding, weeding out, and improving. What I have learned from other arts, I have looked to see how it fits into the principles I have learned from sambo...some fit, some have not, but either way, my game has improved...even simply from knowing what others are doing. Anyone who thinks one art is the best or has all the answers is delusional.
Also, What "sambo" is is a very wide spectrum, so it can be tough to generalize by simply saying sambo. I would say that most people forget that combat sambo came first and included chokes, stikes, ect. Sport sambo took over in popularity later. But now that combat sambo is not limited to military/police, it is spreading more.
In the end, I think one is not better than the other. It simply depends on what you like.
