Nahuel Gandolfi
Nahuel “El Roble” Gandolfi, 29, is one of the top mixed martial artists from Argentina today. He currently holds a professional MMA record of 14 wins and 4 losses.
Hailing from La Plata, Argentina, Gandolfi has been competing professionally since 2014. Recently, he shared to Conan Daily that his MMA idols are Igor “Ice Cold” Vovchanchyn, 46, of Ukraine, Georges “Rush” St-Pierre, 38, of Canada and Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson, 33, of the United States.
“Mís ídolos en las MMA son Igor Vovchanchyn, Georges St-Pierre y Demetrious Johnson (My idols in MMA are Igor Vovchanchyn, Georges St-Pierre y Demetrious Johnson),” Gandolfi said. “[Son] atletas muy completos y lo más importante, buenas personas y ejemplos para la sociedad ([They are] very complete athletes, and most importantly, good people and examples for the society).”
“Los luchadores debemos ser ejemplo para nuestros hijos (Fighters must be an example for our children),” Gandolfi continued. “No debemos ser patánes o matones que se faltan el respeto (We must not be thugs or bullies who disrespect each other).”
Fighting in the bantamweight division, Gandolfi has competed in Wu Lin Feng, BRAVE Combat Federation and Asociación Panamericana de Artes Marciales, among others. Here are more details about his MMA idols:
Igor “Ice Cold” Vovchanchyn
Born in Zolochiv, Kharkiv, Ukraine on August 6, 1973, Vovchanchyn is a retired MMA fighter and kickboxer. He competed in light heavyweight and heavyweight divisions.
As a professional MMA fighter, Vovchanchyn competed from 1995 to 2005. In 2005, he defeated Yoshiki “Cannibal Yoshiki” Takahashi, 50, of Japan and Yuki “Fudoshin” Kondo, 44, of Japan before losing to Alistair “The Demolition Man” Overeem, 39, o the Netherlands and Kazuhiro “King Kaz” Nakamura, 40, of Japan all in Pride Fighting Championships.
At age 32, Vovchanchyn retired with a professional MMA record of 56 wins, 10 losses, 1 draw and 1 No Contest. He is regarded as one of the hardest punchers in MMA.
Georges “Rush” St-Pierre
Born in Saint-Isidore, Quebec, Canada on May 19, 1981, St-Pierre was 7 years old when he started his Kyokushin Karate training. He made his professional MMA debut in 2002 and joined the Ultimate Fighting Championship in 2004.
St-Pierre is a one-time former interim UFC Welterweight Champion, a two-time former UFC Welterweight Champion and a one-time former UFC Middleweight Champion. His most recent bout was on November 4, 2017.
Currently, St-Pierre holds a professional MMA record of 26 wins and 2 losses. He is considered one of the greatest MMA fighters in history.
Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson
Born in Madisonville, Kentucky, USA on August 13, 1986, Johnson was a standout athlete in track, wrestling and cross country in Washington High School in Tacoma, Washington, USA. He made his professional MMA debut in 2007 and joined the UFC in 2011.
Johnson is the inaugural UFC Flyweight Champion. After 11 successful title defenses, he lost the title on August 4, 2018 to Henry “The Messenger” Cejudo, 32, of Phoenix, Arizona, USA, who vacated the title on December 19, 2019.
From the UFC, Johnson moved to ONE Championship. Defeating three opponents, he became the inaugural ONE Flyweight World Grand Prix Champion in 2019.
Categories: Argentina, Canada, Europe, North America, South America, Ukraine, United States
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