Igor Vovchanchyn, The King of Fighting Paperback – 4 June 2019

I had the fortune (misfortune) of getting to fight Igor. I appreciate I was mentioned in a chapter. Igor is such a great guy. I'd love to talk with the author. I think it would be SO FUN to go to his restaurant. That is on my bucket list. I have not talked to him since 1997! It is funny his birthday is June 8th, 1973 and mine is June 8th, 1974.Nick Nutter

A great little book, short but worth owning by anyone who is a fan of MMA , Igor is a Pride legend, and was a destroyer in his day, only 5'7 but fearless with an iron chin. I recommend this book to anyone with any interest in combat sports

This is a good but brief read. The book is only just over 120 pages, and without the extra space in between each line of writing could easily have been half that. I read the whole book in an hour.The book covers Igor’s fighting career, but disappointingly only up until the second Mark Kerr fight. The book then skips the rest of Igor’s fighting career and moves straight into his post fight career and the authors tale of travelling to Ukraine to meet the great man himself.So, the book is short and misses an important, and perhaps the most high profile, part of Igor’s career. So why have I given it 4 stars?Igor Vovchanchyn is one of the most underrated fighters in MMA history, and he was a very important figure in the formative years of NHB/MMA. Despite his legacy, Igor remains something of an anomaly. He is absent from online media interviews with MMA websites, he is never mentioned by MMA announcers during major fight cards. He is all but forgotten about except by the most hardcore of MMA fans.I often find myself yearning for more material on Vovchanchyn and, despite being a short read, I feel that this book does provide me with information and stories from Igor’s live that I was unaware of, particularly his early modest life and the manual work he performed as a child.The author, Daniel DiMarzo, has a very clear admiration for Igor and this shines through in this book. The fact that he actually traveled to meet Igor adds further weight to his efforts to document Igor’s life. Daniel provides a personal picture in this book of him comparing his fist size to Igor’s and it is almost worthy of the price of the book itself! The 5’9” Vovchanchyn has hands reminiscent of Andre The Giant. No wonder he was such a power puncher!The book is also cheap. It cost me a little over £5, and for me personally this book on one of my hero’s was worth such a cheap price.So, I give the book 4 stars. It is a brief read and feels like it could have been much more in depth but it is very likely the only Igor Vovchanchyn book we will ever get, at least in English. The book is cheap and provides some good information on the elusive Vovchanchyn’s life. Good read for a good price.

The most incredible part of the book is the momentum the author manages to maintain from start to finish. Instead of focusing on verbose details about Igor’s life many details are presented through his career as a fighter or commentary from Igor himself. The description of each fight within the book is short, yet tangible making you feel as if you were there while keeping a good tempo. Even as someone who knows little about fighting, the book clearly presented why Igor could be called the king of fighting.

Great book. Very easy to read and has some great insight on the scariest NHB monster turned MMA fighter. Pound for pound best fighter IMO.