Amar Suloev (January 7, 1976 – June 27, 2016) was a Russian

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorp ...

. Following his mixed martial arts career, Suloev became involved in the world of

organized crime Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...

and was arrested and accused of being a

contract killer Contract killing is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or persons. It involves an illegal agreement which includes some form of payment, monetary or otherwise. Either party may b ...

. He died of stomach cancer in June 2016. During his career, he fought for the

UFC The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

PRIDE Fighting Championships PRIDE Fighting Championships (Pride or Pride FC, founded as KRS-Pride) was a Japanese mixed martial arts promotion company. Its inaugural event was held at the Tokyo Dome on October 11, 1997. Pride held more than sixty mixed martial arts even ...

Cage Rage Cage Rage Championships, also known as Cage Rage, was a United Kingdom-based, mixed martial arts promotion that premiered on 7 September 2002 in London. Cage Rage went into liquidation and is now no longer trading. Cage Rage had been owned and ma ...

, and

M-1 Global M-1 Global (Mixfight-1) or MMA-1 (Mixed martial arts-1) is a mixed martial arts promotion based in St. Petersburg, Russia which organizes between 10 and 20 competitions per year. It hosted its first major show (rather than co-promoting with othe ...

Background

Suloev was born into a

Yazidi Yazidis or Yezidis (; ku, ئێزیدی, translit=Êzidî) are a Kurmanji-speaking endogamous minority group who are indigenous to Kurdistan, a geographical region in Western Asia that includes parts of Iraq, Syria, Turkey and Iran. The majo ...

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish languages *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern Kurdistan **Eastern Kurdistan **Northern Kurdistan **Western Kurdistan See also * Kurd (dis ...

family in

Tashir Tashir ( hy, Տաշիր) is a town and urban municipal community located in Lori Province at the north of Armenia, near the border with Georgia. It is located 42 km north of the provincial centre Vanadzor and 154 north of the capital Ye ...

Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic,; russian: Армянская Советская Социалистическая Республика, translit=Armyanskaya Sovetskaya Sotsialisticheskaya Respublika) also commonly referred to as Soviet A ...

(now

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...

Mixed martial arts career

A former

Kickboxer Kickboxing is a combat sport focused on kicking and punching. The combat takes place in a boxing ring, normally with boxing gloves, mouthguards, shorts, and bare feet to favour the use of kicks. Kickboxing is practiced for self-defense, general ...

and

Greco-Roman Wrestler Greco-Roman (American English), Graeco-Roman (British English), classic wrestling ( Euro English) or French wrestling (in Russia until 1948) is a style of wrestling that is practiced worldwide. Greco-Roman wrestling was included in the first mo ...

, Suloev was recruited by the Russian team

Red Devil Sport Club The Red Devil Sport Club is a mixed martial arts academy in St. Petersburg, Russia, founded by Vadim Finkelstein. In 2011, it was renamed to Alexander Nevsky OEMK. History The team's main fighter base is made up of Russian Sambo fighters who h ...

and made his debut in national promotion

in 1999, losing to Andrei Semenov by armbar. Suloev later avenged his defeat by choking out Semenov in Brazil for World Vale Tudo Championship, winning the WVC 11 Middleweight Tournament in the process.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

UFC 35 ''UFC 35: Throwdown'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut on January 11, 2002. The event was seen live on pay per view in the United States, and later releas ...

, Suloev came to fight in the premier MMA organization of the United States where he faced top light heavyweight Chuck Liddell. The fight went to decision, where Liddell was awarded the win on points. The fight was intense and Suloev demonstrated his level of skill with kickboxing as he avoided the trademark power shots of the feared American fighter. Despite the loss, Amar was one of only seven fighters to take Liddell to decision. The

invited him back at

UFC 37 The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

to fight

Phil Baroni Philip George Baroni (April 16, 1976) is a retired American mixed martial artist, professional wrestler and former kickboxer. A professional MMA competitor since 2000, Baroni has competed for the UFC, PRIDE, Strikeforce, Cage Rage, DREAM, Elit ...

, where a controversial knee by Suloev was landed while Baroni was on his knees getting up, shortly after the referee stood them up, Baroni landed a flurry of punches which stopped Suloev.

PRIDE Fighting Championships

After a brief stint in the UFC, Suloev returned to

for a few fights before jumping to the top Japanese MMA promotion

Pride Fighting Championships PRIDE Fighting Championships (Pride or Pride FC, founded as KRS-Pride) was a Japanese mixed martial arts promotion company. Its inaugural event was held at the Tokyo Dome on October 11, 1997. Pride held more than sixty mixed martial arts even ...

. His first fight in Pride came against top Brazilian Jiu Jitsu ace

Dean Lister Dean Richard Lister (born February 13, 1976) is a retired American mixed martial artist. A professional from 2000 until 2015, he fought in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, PRIDE Fighting Championships, and California-based promotion King of t ...

, which ended in a decision win for Amar. His next fight came against another highly regarded jiu jitsu fighter

Paulo Filho Paulo Fernando de Souza Leite Filho, better known as simply Paulo Filho (; born May 24, 1978), is a Brazilian retired mixed martial artist who last competed in the Middleweight division. A professional competitor from 2000 until 2014, Fil ...

, however, in this fight, despite some aggression and relative success in striking on the feet, Filho proved to be the far better grappler, as he got a submission victory. Top Brazilian Top Team fighter,

Murilo Bustamante Murilo Bustamante (; born 30 July 1966, in Rio de Janeiro) is a retired Brazilian mixed martial artist and former UFC Middleweight Champion. He is one of the founders of the ''Brazilian Top Team'' and is the current leader. In addition to compe ...

faced Suloev in his next Pride appearance, and on this occasion, Suloev was able to largely keep the fight standing, where his strong kickboxing background guided him to a victory. In his final Pride fight,

Denis Kang Denis Kang (, born September 17, 1977) is a Canadian professional mixed martial artist who most recently competed in the Middleweight division. A professional competitor since 1998, Kang has formerly competed for the UFC, PRIDE, DREAM, Impact F ...

was his opponent, and much like the fight against Filho, Suloev was unsuccessful in avoiding the submission once the fight reached the canvas.

Personal life

He was charged as being a part of two assassinations and a third attempt in which a driver was killed. The alleged targets of the attempts were powerful Russian political figures. However, Suloev was never convicted of such things and there were serious problems with the state's case against him. One killer testified that Suloev had been the get away driver. But he did not match eyewitness descriptions of the driver (this in the failed assassination). Even more, his neighbor testified to meeting him on the morning of the attempt at his house at 9:05 am. The attempt occurred at about 9am hundreds of kilometers away. Some of the five other defendants involved in the case were Sergei Zirinov, a Krasnodar legislative assemblyman and member of president

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...

's "Unified Russia" Party. At the time of his death, his trial had been suspended and he had been released on bail following his stage four stomach cancer diagnoses.

Championships and accomplishments

**2000 M-1 MFC World Championship Tournament Winner *2 Hot 2 Handle **2H2H 3: Hotter Than Hot Tournament Winner *World Vale Tudo Championship **WVC 11 Middleweight Tournament Winner

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Win , align=center, 24–7 , Jacek Buczko , TKO (kick and punches) , M-1 Challenge 2: Russia , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:56 ,

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

, Russia , , - , Loss , align=center, 23–7 ,

Chael Sonnen Chael Patrick Sonnen (; born April 3, 1977) is an American submission grappling promoter, mixed martial arts (MMA) analyst, and retired mixed martial artist. Beginning his MMA career in 1997, Sonnen competed for the Ultimate Fighting Champion ...

, TKO (punches) , BodogFIGHT: Alvarez vs. Lee , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 3:33 ,

Trenton, New Jersey Trenton is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. It was the capital of the United States from November 1 to December 24, 1784.St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

, Russia , , - , Win , align=center, 22–6 , Hun Kim , TKO (punches) , M-1 MFC: Russia vs. Korea , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:35 ,

, Russia , , - , Loss , align=center, 21–6 ,

, Submission (one-arm strangle) , PRIDE Bushido 12 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:10 ,

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most pop ...

, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 21–5 ,

, Decision (unanimous) , PRIDE Bushido 11 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 5:00 , Saitama, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 20–5 , James Nicholl , TKO (doctor stoppage) , Cage Rage 16 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 5:00 ,

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, United Kingdom , , - , Win , align=center, 19–5 , Damien Riccio , KO (knee) , M-1 MFC: Russia vs. France , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:25 ,

, Russia , , - , Loss , align=center, 18–5 ,

, Submission (armbar) , PRIDE: Bushido 6 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:22 ,

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of To ...

, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 18–4 ,

, Decision (split) ,

PRIDE Bushido 4 The year 2004 is the 8th year in the history of the Pride Fighting Championships, a mixed martial arts promotion based in Japan. 2004 had 10 events beginning with, ''Pride 27 - Inferno''. Title fights Debut Pride FC fighters The followi ...

, , align=center, 2 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 17–4 ,

Din Thomas Din Yero Thomas (born September 28, 1976) is an American former mixed martial artist who was featured on '' The Ultimate Fighter 4: The Comeback''. In the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Thomas is a UFC 41 Lightweight Tournament Semifinalist. H ...

, TKO (punches and soccer kicks) , Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye 2003 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:22 ,

Kobe Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture Japan. With a population around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in Kansai region, whic ...

, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 16–4 ,

Yushin Okami is a Japanese mixed martial artist. A professional competitor since 2002, Okami has competed for the UFC, PRIDE, Pancrase, M-1 Global, World Series of Fighting, DEEP, Professional Fighters League, and ONE Championship. Mixed martial arts caree ...

, TKO (punches) , M-1 MFC: Russia vs. the World 6 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:44 ,

, Russia , , - , Win , align=center, 15–4 , Julian Gonzales , Submission (rear-naked choke) , M-1 MFC: Russia vs. the World 4 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:38 ,

, Russia , , - , Win , align=center, 14–4 ,

Paul Cahoon Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity * Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

, Submission (Suloev stretch) , 2H2H 5: Simply the Best , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:03 ,

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

, Netherlands , , - , Loss , align=center, 13–4 ,

, TKO (punches) ,

, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:55 ,

Bossier City, Louisiana Bossier City ( ) is a city in Bossier Parish in the northwestern region of the U.S. state of Louisiana in the United States. It is the second most populous city in the Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan statistical area. In 2020, it had a ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 13–3 , Chuck Liddell , Decision (unanimous) ,

, , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Uncasville, Connecticut Uncasville is an area in the New England town, town of Montville, Connecticut, Montville, Connecticut, United States. It is a Administrative divisions of Connecticut#Village, neighborhood, section of town, village in southeastern Montville, at the ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 13–2 , Moise Rimbon , TKO (punches) , 2H2H 3: Hotter Than Hot , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 4:48 ,

, Netherlands , Won 2H2H 3: Hotter Than Hot Tournament. , - , Win , align=center, 12–2 ,

, Decision (2–0 points) , 2H2H 3: Hotter Than Hot , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, Netherlands , 2H2H 3: Hotter Than Hot Tournament Semifinals. , - , Win , align=center, 11–2 , Patrick de Witte , Submission (armbar) , 2H2H 3: Hotter Than Hot , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:11 ,

, Netherlands , 2H2H 3: Hotter Than Hot Tournament Quarterfinals. , - , Win , align=center, 10–2 , Pedro Otavio , KO (punches) , M-1 MFC: Russia vs. the World 1 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:40 ,

, Russia , , - , Win , align=center, 9–2 , Valentin Siouljine , TKO (injury) , Pancration Cup of Russia 1 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:52 ,

, Russia , , - , Win , align=center, 8–2 , Alexander Mayorov , TKO (strikes) , PCR: Pancration Cup of Russia 1 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:31 ,

, Russia , , - , Win , align=center, 7–2 , Vagam Bodjukyan , Submission (choke) , M-1 MFC: World Championship 2000 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2:51 ,

, Russia , Won M-1 MFC World Championship Tournament. , - , Win , align=center, 6–2 , Rick Rootlieb , Submission (choke) , M-1 MFC: World Championship 2000 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 0:31 ,

, Russia , M-1 MFC World Championship Tournament Semifinals. , - , Win , align=center, 5–2 , Andrei Semenov , Submission (rear-naked choke) , World Vale Tudo Championship 11 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:47 ,

Recife That it may shine on all ( Matthew 5:15) , image_map = Brazil Pernambuco Recife location map.svg , mapsize = 250px , map_caption = Location in the state of Pernambuco , pushpin_map = Brazil#South A ...

, Brazil , Won WVC 11 Middleweight Tournament. , - , Win , align=center, 4–2 , Alberto Prima , Submission (kicks) , World Vale Tudo Championship 11 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:25 ,

, Brazil , WVC 11 Middleweight Tournament Semifinals. , - , Win , align=center, 3–2 , Luis Alberto , KO (kick) , WVC 11: World Vale Tudo Championship 11 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:26 ,

, Brazil , WVC 11 Middleweight Tournament Quarterfinals. , - , Win , align=center, 2–2 , Erik Oganov , Submission (armbar) , Pankration World Championship 2000 Day 1 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:21 ,

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

, Russia , , - , Loss , align=center, 1–2 , Darrel Gholar , Decision , PCNC: Pancration Cup of North Caucasus , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 10:00 ,

, Russia , , - , Win , align=center, 1–1 , Sergei Yankovski , Decision , PCNC: Pancration Cup of North Caucasus , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 10:00 ,

Rostov Rostov ( rus, Росто́в, p=rɐˈstof) is a town in Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, one of the oldest in the country and a tourist center of the Golden Ring. It is located on the shores of Lake Nero, northeast of Moscow. Population: While t ...

, Russia , , - , Loss , align=center, 0–1 , Andrei Semenov , Submission (armbar) , M-1 MFC: World Championship 1999 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 6:08 ,

, Russia , 1999 M-1 MFC Middleweight Tournament Semifinals.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Suloev, Amar 1976 births 2016 deaths Armenian male mixed martial artists Russian male mixed martial artists Middleweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing Muay Thai Mixed martial artists utilizing sambo Mixed martial artists utilizing judo Mixed martial artists utilizing Greco-Roman wrestling Armenian Muay Thai practitioners Russian Muay Thai practitioners Sportspeople from Tver Armenian Yazidis Russian Yazidis Deaths from cancer in Russia Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters