Mikhail Ilyukhin

Mikhail Ilyukhin (born November 21, 1966) is a retired Russian mixed martial artist and professional wrestler who competed in the light heavyweight division. He competed in both Fighting Network Rings, and Pride Fighting Championships, and was a prominent member of Russia Top Team, where he trained with the likes of Volk Han, Fedor Emelianenko, and Sergei Kharitonov. At Pride 26, Ilyukhin lost by stoppage to Quinton Jackson. He won his last fight at K-1 – Hero's Lithuania against Jordanas Poskaitis on November 26, 2005. It appears that following the demise of the Russia Top Team Ilyukhin has retired.

Career

IAFC & RINGS After a successful career in sambo, Ilyukhin debuted in the professional wrestling promotion Rings in 1994, submitting Mitsuya Nagai in his first match. He would become a part of the Rings Russia team, along with Volk Han, Andrei Kopylov and Nikolai Zouev. One year later, he had his first contact in MMA represented Rings Russia in the International Absolute Fighting Council (IAFC)'s Absolute Fighting Eurasian Championship. He won the event tournament by submitting six opponents on a row, five of them by Achilles hold and in roughly one minute each.

Only three months after, he returned to IAFC for a similar format, and his performance seemed to follow close. He made short work of his first two opponents with an armbar and a guillotine choke, submitted kickboxer Igor Vovchanchyn by digging his chin into Igor's eye from dominant position, and skipped a match when teammate Achmed Sagidgusenov threw the fight for him. However, at the finals Ilyukhin would meet Brazilian jiu-jitsu exponent Ricardo Morais, an apprentice of Carlson Gracie who outweighed Mikhail by almost 70 Ib. The Russian unexpectedly dominated the first segments of the match, hitting repeated headbutts and punches through Morais's guard until swelling shut one of his eyes, but he made the mistake of standing up, and it allowed the Brazilian to sweep him and take his back. After a long series of elbow strikes to Ilyukhin's spine, Morais locked a rear naked choke and got the win.

Despite the loss, the bout against Morais gained him fame in the Brazilian vale tudo scene, and he got a spot in the first event of Universal Vale Tudo Fighting, which was coincidentally hosted in Japan. He faced another against another Carlson Gracie trainee, the debutant Carlos Barreto, still heavier yet more similar to him in weight. The bout ended in the second round with Ilyukhin submitted again by rear naked choke. Months after, Ilyukhin participated in Shoot Boxing's MMA S-Cup event and was pitted against capoeira fighter Mestre Hulk, who was known for his tournament victory against Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion Amaury Bitetti. The Russian won the match using the already known chin submission.

Back in Rings, Ilyukhin had a vale tudo rules match in 1996 against Adilson Lima, a Carlos Gracie, Jr. trainee who had been famously defeated twice by Vovchanchyn in the first IAFC tournament. The match started slow, with Lima taking down Illukhin and mounting him, but the Russian escaped thanks to a failed rear naked choke attempt. Illyukhin gained a yellow card by illegally grabbing the ropes in order not to be taken down again, yet he managed to take down the Brazilian himself and almost finished him with an ankle hold before the end of the time. The match was declared a draw, but Lima and his cornermen Renzo Gracie protested the result and demanded another round, which Rings chairman Akira Maeda and referee Yuji Shimada eventually had to concede. The fight was restarted for a heated contest, as Lima attacked Illyukhin at the handshake and grabbed the ropes himself while Mikhail threw an illegal headbutt, and it featured yet another controversial moment when Shimada stopped the match to a submission win for Lima before Illyukhin surrendered.

Mikhail returned to MMA format in 1999 facing Ultimate Fighting Championship Heavyweight Champion Randy Couture. The American, as a decorated wrestler, managed to stop Ilyukhin's insistent takedowns and push him against the ring ropes, almost making him fall through them at one point. After brawling on the clinch for most of the match, Illyukhin secured an arm with his back against the turnbuckle and dropped for a Kimura lock, but the referee intervened to reposition them on the center of the ring. In the process, the Russian visibly advanced the hold, and once restarted the fight, he completed it and Couture was forced to tap out. The win was immediately contested by Couture, but nothing come out of the complain.

In 1999, Ilyukhin was selected to compete in Rings' first MMA tournament, King of Kings 1999. He defeated his two first opponents, Tito Ortiz's teammate Justin McCully and HOOKnSHOOT tournament winner Brad Kohler, and then faced luta livre fighter Renato Sobral at the block's finals. The bout saw Sobral earning a yellow card for intentionally throwing Mikhail over the top rope, as well as the Russian attempting takedowns and boxing in order to try to hold his own. After the judges ruled a draw, an overtime was called; Mikhail performed a standing Kimura lock entry, but Sobral skillfully reversed it to an armbar and got the win. Ilyukhin also took part in the next edition of the tournament in 2000, facing Tsuyoshi Kohsaka in the first round. Although the bout looked to be back and forth, Kohsaka landed a striking combination in the second round which knocked Mikhail out, eliminating him from the event.

Pride Ilyukhin took part in a special match against Quinton Jackson in Pride Fighting Championships in 2003. He was heavily challenged for the bout, finding himself outweighed by an excess of 60 lb and being also 12 years older than Jackson, but he chose to fight nonetheless. Initially, the Russian was successful in bringing Jackson to the ground and threatening him with submissions, including a Kimura that almost succeeded, but his opponent powered out and started scoring strikes. Ilyukhin was knocked down and gained a yellow card for crawling under the ropes, and received further hits in his next attempt to go to the ground. Ultimately, after avoiding a triangle choke by the Russian, Jackson gained side control and threw knees to the head and liver, making Ilyukhin tap out.

After retirement After retirement Ilyukhin became prezident of Tula regional public organization "Sambo Federation" and was included into coaching stuff of Russian sambo team. Ilyukhin was awarded the title of Honored Coach of the Russian Federation in 2014 and at the same year he founded "Sport club of Ilyukhin" in Tula

Championships and accomplishments Fighting Network Rings 1997 Rings Mega Battle Tournament Runner up 2001 Rings Openweight Championship Tournament semifinalist World sambo championship 1995 bronze medalist

Mixed martial arts record Win

Jordanas Poskaitis Submission (half boston crab) Hero's Lithuania 2005

Vilnius, Lithuania Win

Petrov Kolev Submission (heel hook) Rings Russia: CIS vs. The World

Lithuania Loss

Quinton Jackson Submission (knee to the body) Pride 26

Yokohama, Japan Win

Katsuhisa Fujii Submission (guillotine choke) PC: Premium Challenge

Tokyo, Japan Draw

Hiromitsu Kanehara Draw Rings: World Title Series Grand Final

Yokohama, Japan Loss

Bobby Hoffman TKO (corner stoppage) Rings: 10th Anniversary

Tokyo, Japan Win

Borislav Jeliazkov Submission (armbar) Rings Lithuania: Bushido Rings 2

Yokohama, Japan Win

Kestutis Smirnovas Submission (achilles lock) Rings Lithuania: Bushido Rings 2

Lithuania Win

Martin Lazarev Decision (4-0 points) Rings Russia: Russia vs. Bulgaria

Ekaterinburg, Russia Loss

Tsuyoshi Kohsaka KO (punches) Rings: King of Kings 2000 Block B

Osaka, Japan Win

Valerijus Golubovskis Submission (armbar) Rings Lithuania: Bushido Rings 1

Lithuania Win

Bakouri Gogitidze Submission (Achilles lock) Rings: Russia vs. Georgia

Russia Wik

Emil Kristev Submission (Achilles Lock) Rings Russia: Russia vs. Bulgaria

Tula, Russia Win

Lee Hasdell Decision Rings Russia: Russia vs. The World

Ekaterinburg, Russia Loss

Renato Sobral Submission (armbar) Rings: King of Kings 1999 Final

Tokyo, Japan Win

Brad Kohler Submission (armbar) Rings: King of Kings 1999 Block A

Tokyo, Japan Win

Justin McCully Technical Submission (achilles lock) Rings: King of Kings 1999 Block A

Tokyo, Japan Loss

Bakouri Gogitidze Submission (rear-naked choke) Rings: Rings Georgia

Georgia, United States Win

Joop Kasteel Submission (achilles lock) Rings: Rise 3rd

Japan Win

Randy Couture Submission (kimura) Rings: Rise 1st

Tokyo, Japan Win

Masayuki Naruse Submission Rings: Third Fighting Integration

Tokyo, Japan Loss

Kiyoshi Tamura Submission Rings: Battle Dimensions Tournament 1997 Final

Tokyo, Japan Win

Volk Han Submission Rings: World Mega Battle Tournament 1997: Semi-Finals

Fukuoka, Japan Win

Tsuyoshi Kohsaka Submission Rings: World Mega Battle Tournament 1997: Second Round

Osaka, Japan Win

Masayuki Naruse Submission (Achilles lock) Rings: Mega Battle Tournament 1997 Semifinal 1

Tokyo, Japan Loss

Tsuyoshi Kohsaka Submission Rings : Mega Battle Tournament 1996: Grand Final

Tokyo, Japan Loss

Kiyoshi Tamura Submission Rings: Battle Dimensions Tournament 1996 Opening Round

Nagoya, Japan Loss

Adilson Lima Submission (armbar) Rings: Maelstrom 6

Tokyo, Japan Win

Mestre Hulk Submission (chin to the eye) Shoot Boxing: S-Cup 1996

Japan Loss

Carlos Barreto Submission (rear-naked choke) UVF 1: Universal Vale Tudo Fighting 1

Japan Loss

Mitsuya Nagai KO (strikes) Rings: Maelstrom 1

Niigata, Japan Win

Wataru Sakata Submission Rings: Budokan Hall 1996

Tokyo, Japan Loss

Ricardo Morais Submission (rear-naked choke) IAFC: Absolute Fighting Championship 1

Moscow, Russia Win

Achmed Sagidgusenov Submission (achilles lock) IAFC: Absolute Fighting Championship 1

Moscow, Russia Win

Igor Vovchanchyn Submission (chin to the eye) IAFC: Absolute Fighting Championship 1

Moscow, Russia Win

Andrei Besedin Submission (guillotine choke) IAFC: Absolute Fighting Championship 1

Moscow, Russia Win

Zagil Eribinov Submission (armbar) IAFC: Absolute Fighting Championship 1

Moscow, Russia Win

Nikolai Zouev Submission Rings: Battle Dimensions Tournament 1995 Opening Round

Fukuoka, Japan Win

Victor Yerohin Submission (rear-naked choke) IAFC: Absolute Fighting Eurasian Championship

Moscow, Russia Win

Leonid Efremov Submission (achilles lock) IAFC: Absolute Fighting Eurasian Championship

Moscow, Russia Win

Vadim Shevchenko Submission (achilles lock) IAFC: Absolute Fighting Eurasian Championship

Moscow, Russia Win

Maxim Tarasov Submission (achilles lock) IAFC: Absolute Fighting Eurasian Championship

Moscow, Russia Win

Piotr Tjernov Submission (achilles lock) IAFC: Absolute Fighting Eurasian Championship

Moscow, Russia