Igor Zinoviev
With wins over the likes of Enson Inoue and Mario Sperry, Russian sambo expert Igor Zanoviev looked like he could be a force to be reckoned with when he joined the UFC in 1998.
Zinvoiev drew a tough assignment for his first fight in the Octagon at UFC 16 though, going up against Frank Shamrock, who had just won the UFC’s middleweight title a few months earlier.
The fight couldn’t have gone worse for Zinoviev, who attempted to press forward and land an early punch, only for Shamrock to counter by swooping in for a double-leg takedown, raising him up onto his shoulder and then brutally slam him back down to the canvas.
The impact knocked Zinoviev unconscious and he was later diagnosed with a broken collarbone and fractured vertebrae in his neck, which would cruelly bring an abrupt end to his five fight MMA career.
