Igor Zinoviev Career Deep Dive Ep 222

Ep 222 Igor Zinoviev Career Deep Dive
Igor Zinoviev made a name for himself at Extreme Fighting 1 when he defeated Mario Sperry. Zinoviev went on to Fight Frank Sgamrock for a world title and quietly disappeared from the world of combat sports.
The low profile Zinoviev has had a lot of questions in regards to his training, background and what he has done since leaving the sport.
Zinoviev address’s everything in this interview
Joining us is friend of the show John Perretti who was the matchmaker credited for the start of what is referred to as the “modern era” of mixed martial arts (a phrase he also coined); Perretti is the sole reason for this interview taking place.

Ep 222 Igor Zinoviev Career Deep Dive.
0:00 Lytes out intro
0:19 Joey Venti’s guest introduction
0:49 interview start
2:40 serving 2 years in Russian Military
5:31 coming to the United States to fight
19:26 John Perretti’s first thoughts on Igor Zinoviev
21:55 underground fight record
23:33 making a cast out of cement
25:39 finding a boxing gym to train at
28:18 training with Work the Russian Red Devils
30:16 thoughts on Oleg Taktarov
31:40 Amar Suloev
32:05 experience with John Donahue
33:32 atmosphere at Gene LeBell’s gym
35:03 rolling with Gokor Chivichyan
37:39 training with John Perretti
40:00 Igor Zinoviev vs Royce Gracie “cancelled bout”
40:49 Extreme Fighting being delayed 1 year
43:39 offering Royce Gracie a million to fight
46:01 evolution of fighting styles
49:01 Igor Zinoviev vs Harold German
53:04 Igor Zinoviev vs Mario Sperry
56:53 career injuries
58:02 rolling with Ryan Conforti
1:02:42 getting criticized in black belt magazine
1:05:12 early Jiu jitsu tournaments in California
1:07:46 Igor Zinoviev vs Steve Faulkner
1:10:38 getting arrest after Extreme fighting 2
1:12:56 John Perretti goes to jail
1:14:45 experience as Jeffrey Epstein’s bodyguard
1:21:46 Igor Zinoviev vs Enson Inoue
1:27:09 experience with Howard Stern
1:27:57 training Randy Couture and Matt Lindland
1:30:30 Anti Smoking ad billboard
1:31:17 Valeri Ignatov
1:31:33 bringing Sambo to Extreme Fighting 1
1:35:11 John Perretti ranking Igor Zinoviev as a fighter
1:37:22 Igor Zinoviev vs John Lober
1:45:24 thoughts on Igor Vovchanchyn
1:47:24 dealings with the Emelianenko brothers
1:48:42 fighters learning from losses
1:51:27 training with John Perretti
1:54:07 hurting back jumping out of a helicopter
1:55:25 relationship with John Perretti
2:03:35 Igor Zinoviev vs Osami Shibuya
2:05:20 dealing with Jason DeLucia
2:07:56 shoulder surgery
2:08:08 Igor Zinoviev vs Frank Shamrock
2:14:25 UFC didn’t pay for medical bill
2:16:38 rolling with Vlad Matyushenko
2:17:36 rolling with Eddie Bravo
2:22:51 almost fighting Renzo Gracie after argument
2:25:14 rolling with Tim Kennedy
2:26:07 Yuri Vaulin story
2:29:06 thoughts on old school vs modern training
2:32:12 not inviting John Perretti to go spearfishing
2:32:39 interview wrap up
2:32:49 outro/ closing thoughts
#igorzinoviev
#ufc
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[@JohnnyButtons]

Thank you John Perretti ❤

[@JohnnyButtons]

….and also thank you Mike, Joey and Chris.

[@LytesOutClips]

Perretti is the man

[@seandrew3889]

Fight is fight, I love it!!!!!!! Zinoviev quote! Nailed it Perretti

[@mathewallison8815]

Amazing! You are continuing to spoil us.

[@slothmaster101]

There's gonna be some interesting questions here.

[@mindfulstoic3095]

Awesome interview, thank you guys and John Peretti for making this happen. For some reason, i didn't expect him to be like this, really nice guy, good humor, and i honestly to quickly about the elephant in the room, he gave me food for thoughts when it comes to eppstein. Not that i am taking any stand here, but we are used to the media twisting any narrative and often times further from the thruth. Thanks again, looking forward to a next episode !

[@swedd2]

This is going to be epic......... Igor Zinoviev has been one of my favorite, he just disappeared after the Shamrock slam, came back briefly for IFL coaching but to hear his own personal story and mma tales is going to be legendary........ omg, this will probably be my most favorite episode. A huge thank you to the creator of mma, mma gloves, rounds, weight classes, modern north american grappling, the greatest matchmaker and guy who coined the term mma, John Perretti.

[@johnperretti1948]

And not one thumbs up…

[@georgenicholson6080]

I never thought Igor would be such a chill, fun guy. Stoic and completely badass but also relatable and very affable.

[@seandrew3889]

Zinoviev should come out with a autobiography book 📚 I would love to hear about his time in the Russian military

[@devriestown]

WOW, this mma history 👏

[@seandrew3889]

That kick 🦵 in EF 1 against Harold German was captured in the replay. I have the footage, it’s spectacular

[@coreymitsunaga7698]

Thanks for having Houdini on the show. He is a true unsung legend of NHB

[@LytesOutClips]

His story is incredible He might be joining us again for an Extreme Fighting Battlecade episode with Perretti

[@johnsambo9379]

Thank you guys! I learn something every podcast.

[@LytesOutClips]

He is making another appearance in 3 Mondays

[@kristaolson401]

Great episode.

[@Joechambers45]

It’s good to see a mutually beneficial relationship develop (genuine) between you guys and John Perretti I definitely benefit from it I recommend John Perretti’s book The origin of the species and mixed martial arts Thanks Mike and Joseph

[@danielj233]

Powerful

[@secprosinc]

Zinoviev's first sanctioned mixed martial arts fight was at the inaugural World Extreme Fighting event in 1995 in Wilmington, North Carolina, where he defeated Mario Sperry 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, defeating Enson Inoue. Zinoviev's final mixed martial arts bout (to date) was against Frank Shamrock at UFC 16. 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 and bodyguard.

[@bryanfrombuffalo7685]

You know where in Wilmington...I used to live there

[@Josue_Cristobal]

Amazing score for the pod yet again. Guys like Zinoviev had kind of a mythical status in the very early days of the sport. Foreigners who represented exotic martial arts (who in the US had ever heard of “Sambo” before then?) and who had fought in real underground matches like in a martial arts flick. The Frank fight should have been a war but Frank made a statement and it’s a shame that was the end of Igor’s fighting career. I’m glad to see he seems to be doing well for himself now. Props to Peretti for securing the interview.

[@cookdaddy01]

I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, this is the best MMA podcast on the internet. Phenomenal interview guys, keep ‘em coming!

[@LytesOutClips]

Next weeks drop is mind blowing… if we are allowed to release it

[@secprosinc]

I agree. So much history in all these fighters. Love the stories.

[@tonysizzle8574]

How tf did ya’ll get an interview out of this man?!

[@LytesOutClips]

John Perretti

[@dnickx]

Awesome interview as usual!! Someone who you need to interview that would probably have a lot of interesting stories for what I've previously heard, is Lee Hasdell. He is nowadays working to grow his organization, Combudo. Probably you can find him from there

[@secprosinc]

I would love to hear from him too. That would be a great listen.

[@JohnnyButtons]

1:56:27 that’s right, during EFC 1 PPV, the cameraman (or production crew) totally missed that sidekick. Thankfully John Perretti’s color commentary helped give somewhat of a mental picture of that sidekick lol. I think later edits of the fight managed to capture the kick, but the PPV audience missed it. Btw, John’s commentary was always fantastic in my opinion. I loved when he would do commentary. I mean the guy could f*cking do everything. He could fight, coach, referee, matchmaker, promoter, color commentator, and the list goes on. Thanks to the LytesOut team, I can only hope that the younger generation MMA enthusiasts can begin to appreciate John as much as we do. He is one of the cornerstones in MMA’s foundation. The guy is a friggin genius really.

[@javsalonso8295]

Igor was a stud, he would of slaughtered Royce especially with Royce wearing the Gi, definitely one of the best early mma/nhb talents extreme fighting was way ahead of the curb, better matchmaking etc sad they had to go under, another awesome interview 👏🏼🙌🏼

[@JohnnyButtons]

1:42:00 you can see in the John Lober fight that Igor couldn’t use his left arm. After the fight when the ref raised their hands, you could see how badly the pain affected him just from the ref pulling his arm up. He never made excuses and he fought that entire fight in excruciating pain. Makes you wonder the outcome if he was 100%.

[@JohnnyButtons]

Igor is such an awesome guy lol.

[@LytesOutClips]

Agreed Mondays release is incredible Editing now

[@JohnnyButtons]

6:41 attack of the Balloon Bandit again hahahaha

[@LytesOutClips]

I have no idea on how to fix that

[@JohnnyButtons]

@@LytesOutClips well I like it lol

[@JohnnyButtons]

Anyone post on the alt.ufc message boards back in the late ‘90s - early ‘00s?

[@JohnnyButtons]

Igor has a nice collection of ancient sharks teeth hanging on the wall. I’d love to take him shark tooth hunting along the Chesapeake and Potomac of Virginia/Maryland.

[@marleySux]

[@cookdaddy01]

Any chance you guys could get ahold of Karimula Barkalaev for an interview?

[@LytesOutClips]

That would be incredible I have a high level old school Sambo contact… I am going to ask

[@secprosinc]

Do you have a lead on Karimula Barkalaev?

[@cookdaddy01]

I wish. I’m just an old diehard fan trying to bring up some names that many have forgotten. What a beast he was though.

[@kristaolson401]

Gracie gives Igor problems only if Igor takes the bait and goes into Gracie's guard.

[@LytesOutClips]

At this point do you think that Royce BJJ was more advanced than that of Mario Sperry? - Mario had his way with Igor, but Sperry couldn’t submit Zinoviev… Either way, it’s one of those fights that I wish that we had seen

[@kristaolson401]

@@LytesOutClips Ohh Mario is way ahead of Gracie. I'm specifically talking about Gracie’s guard. If Igor would fight like Chuck Liddell, Gracie wouldn't have a chance. If he went in there like Severn, Gracie could give him problems. To be clear, Mario Sperry is ahead in every other way. Gracie gives Igor problems only if Igor takes the bait and goes into Gracie's guard.

[@LytesOutClips]

I agree with you

[@haskewjiujitsu8758]

Lober was living in Georgia a few years ago....

[@LytesOutClips]

Please let us know how to get ahold of him And Thank You!!!

[@Indytainment]

Lober has posted some stuff to KZbin over the last couple years..mainly cell phone footage He appears homeless living out of a car and tries to engage and fight people at gas stations for asking him to leave after so many hours squatting. Alot of them got deleted but I'll try to find his channel

[@slothmaster101]

​@@LytesOutClipsI just left a comment on one of his KZbin posts. Let's wait and see!

[@LytesOutClips]

Dude… I found Brett Rogers tent downtown Minneapolis Common sense told me to leave it alone

[@Indytainment]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/noiTqJdti9OLoNUsi=0TqrET3cTPM8hUs6 Vid from 1.5 years ago lober arguing w a chill cop

[@Joechambers45]

I knew you didn’t believe in the spinning water ball magical gravity conspiracy Mike

[@LytesOutClips]

We at the LOP laugh at round ball shills… everyone except for Joey

[@Joechambers45]

@@LytesOutClips yes!

[@LytesOutClips]

We try not to hold it against him

[@Joechambers45]

@@LytesOutClips I wouldn’t either He still looks like a badass

[@LytesOutClips]

Let’s not get crazy….

[@Nonegiven14582]

Just a drugs sport guy/sport.Doesn't deserve any praise.

[@hellgate2785]

Igor Z was a gentleman he would come by Hank Kraft Judo in Queens back in the day