Svetlana Goundarenko

Svetlana Aronovna Goundarenko (born June 23, 1969) is a Russian judoka, professional wrestler and mixed martial artist, known by her career in Japan. A pioneer of women's mixed martial arts, she has been considered by pundits as one of its earliest top fighters.

Judo career She competed at the 1989 World Judo Championships in +72 kg, ending up at the fifth position. In 1992, she won the European Championships, but her tenure in the 1992 Summer Olympics was less fortunate, losing by ouchi gari to Nathalie Lupino in quarter-finals and to Beata Maksymow by koka in the reserve match, thus ending at seventh place. Next year she ended third in the World Championships, but she came back by winning the Russian championship in 1994. 1995 seemed to be a similarly successful year, as Goundarenko won the European Championships again, but was fifth in the World Championships. She retired in 1999, when she married, opened a pub and became a judo coach and a plus-size model.

Professional wrestling career Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (1991–1992) In 1991, Goundarenko entered the world of joshi puroresu for Japanese professional wrestling company Frontier Martial Arts Wrestling. Introduced as a monster heel character, she had her debut on September 13, defeating Keiko Iwami and Rie Nakamura in a handicap match, and kept winning matches through the month in both singles and handicap matches. Goundarenko also had an appearance FMW 2nd Anniversary Show on September 23, defeating native star Megumi Kudo by armbar in a "Different Style Fight". After a brief alliance with Kudo against Eriko Tsuchiya and Combat Toyoda, Goundarenko formed a tag team with Chris Cruise Christopher, continuing her winning streak into December. She had her final match for FMW on May 24, 1992, the streak finally broken by Toyoda.

She returned as part of its special tournament L-1 on July 18, 1998, the first ever female mixed martial arts tournament in story. Having an ample size advantage over all the other participants, Svetlana was considered a favourite to win.

ReMix World Cup 2000 On December 5, 2000, Goundarenko participated in another tournament, ReMix World Cup. Now fighting without her gi, Goundarenko faced her first opponent, professional wrestler Kyoko Inoue. The judoka dominated the stand-up with judo throws and reversals, while Inoue attempted pro wrestling charges off the ropes and managed to bring Goundarenko down with a single leg takedown, though to no avail. Inoue also gained a yellow card by illegally biting Goundarenko after receiving an ura nage. Svetlana then proceeded to throw her and win by neck crank from kesa-gatame.

At the semi-finals, the judoka faced kickboxer and Brazilian jiu-jitsu fighter Erin Toughill in a short yet intense match. Goundarenko won thanks to her judo acumen again, hip-throwing Toughill down twice and submitting her with another kesa-gatame. She then went to semi-finals to face a fellow judo champion turned wrestler and fighter, Megumi Yabushita.

Goundarenko initially controlled the bout with her stand-up advantage and smothering abilities, but the Japanese survived every time, helped by the groundwork-limiting rules, and fired back with leg takedown attempts, even making Goundarenko gain her own yellow card by grabbing the ropes to avoid one of them. Later, fatigue started to slow Goundarenko down, which allowed the quicker Yabushita to grab top position and score punches and hammerfists over a defensive Svetlana, ultimately winning the unanimous decision. Although some disputed this outcome, the fight went to be considered a classic in female MMA history.

Mixed martial arts record Win

Junko Yagi Decision (unanimous) ReMix - Golden Gate 2001

Tokyo, Japan Loss

Megumi Yabushita Decision (unanimous) ReMix - World Cup 2000

Tokyo, Japan Win

Erin Toughill Submission (scarf-hold armlock) ReMix - World Cup 2000

Tokyo, Japan Win

Kyoko Inoue Submission (rear-naked choke) ReMix - World Cup 2000

Tokyo, Japan Loss

Shinobu Kandori Submission (guillotine choke) FFC 5 - Fusion Fighting Championship 5

Tokyo, Japan Win

Shinobu Kandori Submission (can opener) LLPW - Ultimate L-1 Tournament

Tokyo, Japan Win

Yumiko Hotta Submission (can opener) LLPW - Ultimate L-1 Tournament

Tokyo, Japan Win

Michele Aboro Submission (can opener) LLPW - Ultimate L-1 Tournament

Tokyo, Japan