Volk Han

Magomedkhan Amanulayevich Gamzatkhanov (Russian: Магомедха́н Аманула́евич Гамзатха́нов; born April 15, 1961 in Anchik, Dagestan), is a Russian professional wrestler, mixed martial artist and former military officer of Avar descent. Gamzatkhanov is better known by his ringname Volk Han (Волк-хан) and is renowned for his technical mastery of sambo.

Magomedkhan Gamzatkhanov
Магомедхан Гамзатханов
Born (1961-04-15) April 15, 1961
Anchik, Dagestan ASSR, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union (now Russia)
Other namesVolk Han, "The Russian Wolf", "The Wizard", "Sen no sabu misshon o motsu otoko" (the man with a thousand submission holds)
NationalityAvar
Height6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Weight235 lb (107 kg; 16.8 st)
DivisionHeavyweight
StyleSambo, Shoot wrestling, Catch Wrestling, BJJ, Muay Thai,
StanceOrthodox
Fighting out ofTula, Russia
TeamRussian Top Team
RusFighters Sport Club
Years active1991–2001, 2012
Mixed martial arts record
Total29
Wins21
By knockout1
By submission10
By decision3
Unknown7
Losses8
By knockout2
By submission3
By decision2
Unknown1
Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog

Gamzatkhanov represented Russia on the Russian Fighting Network RINGS team with Fedor Emelianenko, Andrei Kopylov, Nikolai Zuyev and Mikhail Ilyukhin.[1] In the early 1990s Han opened his own martial arts academy, which taught combat sambo with special emphasis on flying and spinning joint locks and compression locks applied to upper and lower extremities.

Sambo career

Gamzatkhanov started training freestyle wrestling while at college. After learning in several teams, his friend Ahmed Sharipov introduced him to the five-time world champion Ali Aliyev, who accepted to train him. Under his tutelage, Gamzatkhanov won the Nalchik regional championship in 1979. He also won the USSR junior championship two years back to back, and placed fourth in the international Aliyev Cup. In 1981, upon beginning his two-year service in the USSR military, Han decided to leave wrestling for sambo, and was immediately scouted by Viktor Lysenko for his team in Tula.

In 1984, Gamzatkhanov attended the Police Academy in Moscow. A year later, he competed in the USSR sambo championship and placed second after losing in the finals to the legendary Alexander Pushnitsa. However, he bounced back by winning the gold medal at the openweight division in 1985, as well as the first place in the USSR championships of 1987 and 1988. He also won the Kalinin international tournament, reserved to the highest practitioners of the sport.[2] In 1991, Gamzatkhanov returned to the USSR championship, but he was again eliminated from the finals, this time by Murat Khasanov.

The same year, he was scouted by Akira Maeda for his professional wrestling promotion Fighting Network RINGS, where he was given the ring name of Volk Han ("Volk" meaning "wolf" and "Han" being short for Magomedkhan).

Professional wrestling career

In 1992, Han participated in RINGS's Mega Battle Tournament, but he was eliminated on the first round by Akira Maeda. Despite his loss, the match turned him into an instant fan favourite thanks to his spectacular grappling techniques and merry charisma, which saw him becoming one of RINGS's main players.[3] The next year, after several wins against names like Chris Dolman, Mitsuya Nagai and Willie Williams, Han took part in the next edition, eliminating Masayuki Naruse in the opening round before falling to teammate Nikolai Zouev in the second. Han and Zouev started a heated feud focused around their sambo backgrounds, and it saw Zouev besting Han again in a special sambo jacket match. 1994 was Han's breakout year, as he won the next edition of the Mega Battle Tournament by submitting Williams, Maeda and Hans Nijman, as well as getting his revenge against Zouev in a singles match.

After a lesser but notable participation in the 1995 tournament, in which he was eliminated by Maeda in the semifinals, Han won the 1996 iteration by defeating Naruse, Tsuyoshi Kohsaka, Tariel Bitsadze and Kiyoshi Tamura. Following an elimination from the 1996 to hands of his own apprentice, Mikhail Illyukhin, Han gave his last great tournament participation in the 1999 edition, which was fought in team format. His team, composed by RINGS Russia members Illyukhin, Sergei Sousserov and Han himself, was pitted against RINGS Holland, formed by Joop Kasteel, Hans Nijman and Dick Vrij. Despite their effort, RINGS Russia was eliminated. Han's last professional wrestling match in RINGS was in 2001, facing legendary catch wrestling expert Yoshiaki Fujiwara in a special match that ended in a draw.

Mixed martial arts career

After years competing in professional wrestling, Han switched to mixed martial arts when RINGS adopted this format in 2000. This decision was very anticipated, despite Han's advanced age, due to his world class sambo skills. Following a winning debut against RINGS rookie Yasuhito Namekawa, Volk's skills were proven further against American wrestler and Mark Coleman's teammate Branden Lee Hinkle, 12 years his junior. Although Hinkle was able to take Han down and control him, the Russian grappler locked a tight triangle armbar at the end of the first round and made him tap out. Han got a matchup closer in age and experience against Olympic freestyle alumni Zaza Tkeshelashvili in a special Russia vs Georgia fight, but again Han won by submission with a guillotine choke.

In December, Han took part in the King of Kings tournament, where he was pitted in the first round against RINGS England leader Lee Hasdell. The Russian took him down and landed effective strikes before securing position, and also attempted triangle chokes and armbars, but Hasdell's defense was strong. Han resumed using unorthodox ground and pound from the knee-on-stomach position every time the fight hit the ground, but it was in a standing segment where he got the finish, overpowering the British kickboxer with combinations and injuring Hasdell's eye for a TKO victory. In the second round, Volk fought Bobby Hoffman, who came to the bout with a 23–4 record. Hoffman controlled Han for the majority of the fight and tried to perform ground and pound, while Han worked in avoiding damage from the bottom. However, once in overtime, Han took Hoffman down in the corner and stood over him landing punches until the end of the time, winning the decision.

After martial arts competition

Other than martial arts, he ran for parliamentary elections in his home country without success. After that, the Russian media was crowded with scandals related to his business.

He also helped in building a mosque in his homeland, the Republic of Dagestan, with the fight money he earned from his RINGS career.

He has been away from the competition since February 2002, but made a brief return at the Lithuanian Bushido Association (Lithuania Bushido) tournament on November 20, 2004.

Currently, he runs a martial arts dojo in his home-town of Tula.

His son, Dzhamal Gamzatkhanov, is a judoka and ranked third in the 2018 World Junior 100kg class.[4]

Championships and accomplishments

Mixed martial arts record

Volk Han's Mixed Martial Arts record. The validity of matches is contested.

Professional record breakdown
30 matches 21 wins 8 losses
By knockout 1 2
By submission 10 3
By decision 3 2
Unknown 7 1
Draws 1
Res. Record Opponent Method Event Date Round Time Location Notes
Draw 21–8–1 Masakatsu Funaki Draw (majority) Rings/The Outsider: Volk Han Retirement Match December 16, 2012 1 15:00 Tokyo, Japan Retirement match.
Win 21–8 Zaza Tkeshelashvili Submission (armlock) Rings Lithuania: Bushido Rings 2 May 8, 2001 1 N/A Vilnius, Lithuania
Win 20–8 Andrei Kopylov Decision (unanimous) Rings Russia: Russia vs. Bulgaria April 6, 2001 2 5:00 Ekaterinburg, Russia
Loss 19–8 Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira Decision (unanimous) Rings: King of Kings 2000 Final February 24, 2001 2 5:00 Tokyo, Japan
Win 19–7 Bobby Hoffman Decision (unanimous) Rings: King of Kings 2000 Block B December 22, 2000 3 5:00 Osaka, Japan
Win 18–7 Lee Hasdell TKO (punches) Rings: King of Kings 2000 Block B December 22, 2000 2 0:08 Osaka, Japan
Win 17–7 Zaza Tkeshelashvili Submission (guillotine choke) Rings: Russia vs. Georgia August 16, 2000 1 15:46 Tula, Russia
Win 16–7 Branden Lee Hinkle Submission (triangle armbar) Rings: Millennium Combine 2 June 15, 2000 1 8:11 Tokyo, Japan
Win 15–7 Cvetko Cvetkov Submission (achilles lock) Rings Russia: Russia vs. Bulgaria May 21, 2000 1 N/A Tula, Russia
Win 14–7 Yasuhito Namekawa Decision (unanimous) Rings Russia: Russia vs. The World May 21, 2000 3 5:00 Yekaterinburg, Russia
Loss 13–7 Zaza Tkeshelashvili KO Rings: Rings Georgia October 8, 1999 1 7:08 Georgia (country)
Loss 13–6 Zaza Tkeshelashvili Decision (unanimous) Rings: Rise 4th June 24, 1999 3 10:00 Japan
Win 13–5 Masayuki Naruse Submission (armbar) Rings: Rise 3rd May 22, 1999 1 4:26 Japan
Win 12–5 Nikolai Zuyev Submission (arm-triangle choke) Rings: Final Capture February 21, 1999 1 4:49 Japan
Loss 11–5 Tsuyoshi Kohsaka Submission (injury) Rings: Third Fighting Integration May 29, 1998 1 10:10 Tokyo, Japan
Loss 11–4 Akira Maeda Submission (verbal) Rings: Battle Dimensions Tournament 1997 Final January 21, 1998 1 4:24 N/A
Loss 11–3 Mikhail Ilyukhin N/A Rings: Battle Dimensions Tournament 1997 Final January 21, 1998 N/A N/A N/A
Win 11–2 Dick Vrij N/A Rings: Battle Dimensions Tournament 1997 Final January 21, 1998 N/A N/A N/A
Win 10–2 Andrei Kopylov Submission (armlock) Rings – Mega Battle Tournament 1997 Semifinal 1 October 25, 1997 1 10:52 Japan
Loss 9–2 Kiyoshi Tamura Submission (armbar) Rings – Extension Fighting 7 September 26, 1997 1 12:48 Japan
Win 9–1 Akira Maeda Submission (kneebar) Rings – Extension Fighting 2 April 22, 1997 1 8:47 Japan
Win 8–1 Kiyoshi Tamura N/A Rings – Budokan Hall 1997 January 22, 1997 N/A N/A Tokyo, Japan
Win 7–1 Kiyoshi Tamura N/A Rings – Battle Dimensions Tournament 1996 Final January 1, 1997 N/A N/A N/A
Win 6–1 Tariel Bitsadze N/A Rings – Battle Dimensions Tournament 1996 Final January 1, 1997 N/A N/A N/A
Win 5–1 Tsuyoshi Kohsaka N/A Rings – Battle Dimensions Tournament 1996 Final January 1, 1997 N/A N/A N/A
Win 4–1 Masayuki Naruse N/A Rings – Battle Dimensions Tournament 1996 Opening Round October 25, 1996 N/A N/A N/A
Win 3–1 Tsuyoshi Kohsaka Submission (armbar) Rings – Maelstrom 6 August 24, 1996 1 13:52 Japan
Loss 2–1 Hans Nijman TKO Rings – Budokan Hall 1996 January 24, 1996 N/A N/A Tokyo, Japan
Win 2–0 Peter Ura Submission (kneebar) Rings – Battle Dimensions Tournament 1995 Opening Round October 21, 1995 N/A N/A N/A
Win 1–0 Akira Maeda Submission Rings – Budokan Hall 1995 January 25, 1995 N/A N/A Tokyo, Japan

Notes

1.^ Per Fighting Network Rings practice of having both worked professional wrestling matches and legitimate Mixed Martial Arts bouts, it is not certain which matches are real or fixed. Matches between 1991-1994 can be verified of being worked, but there is also no certain indication that the matches from 1995 onwards are fully legitimate.

References

  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-08-26. Retrieved 2010-04-08.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. "2014 Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame candidate profile: Volk Han". 12 September 2014. Archived from the original on 2014-09-12.
  3. "Profile at Oocities". Oocities.org. Retrieved 2014-09-21.
  4. https://www.ijf.org/news/show/japanese-treble-while-georgia-seize-control-of-the-men-s-heavyweight-division
  5. "Pro Wrestling History". Prowrestlinghistory.com. Retrieved 2017-06-30.
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