Submission wrestling, also known as submission grappling, submission fighting or simply grappling, is a competitive martial art and combat sport that focuses on ground fighting and submission techniques. It is a hybrid discipline that incorporates elements of various grappling arts, mostly Brazilian jiu-jitsu but also Judo, Sambo, and wrestling. Submission wrestling is practiced both as a competitive sport and as a training method for self-defence and mixed martial arts (MMA).
Wrestling is a martial art and combat sport that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves different grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins, and other grappling holds. Many different wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat sports, and military systems. Wrestling is genuine competition; professional wrestling is athletic theatre.
Michael Lee Alfonso was an American professional wrestler. He was best known for his appearances with the American professional wrestling promotions Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and the World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment (WWF/E) under the ring name Mike Awesome and for his appearances in Japan with Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling and All Japan Pro Wrestling as The Gladiator.
Sambo is a martial art with Soviet origins, an internationally practiced combat sport, and a recognized style of amateur wrestling included by UWW in the World Wrestling Championships along with Greco-Roman wrestling and freestyle wrestling.
Ron Tripp is an American chiropractor, sports executive, coach, and former competitor in judo and sambo.
Oleg Aleksandrovich Prudius better known by his ring name Vladimir Kozlov, is a Ukrainian-American actor and professional wrestler currently signed to Impact Wrestling under his real name. He is best known for his time in WWE, where he won the WWE Tag Team Championship once with Santino Marella. He is trained in freestyle wrestling, rugby, football, sambo, kickboxing, judo, jujutsu, Brazilian jiu-jitsu and mixed martial arts.
Masanori Morimura better known under his ring name Ricky Fuji is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to Action Advance Pro Wrestling, where he also runs the day-to-day operations. He is perhaps best known for his time with Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW), where he wrestled between the promotion's early days in 1990 until the promotion's closure in 2002, making him the longest-tenured wrestler in the company's history.
James "Chico" Hernandez is an accomplished athlete in the sport of Sambo. He is the first Sambo champion to be featured on a box of Wheaties Energy Crunch and the first Sambo wrestler to appear in CNN/SI "Faces In the Crowd".
Mikhail Ilyukhin 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.
Ivan Sergeyevich Yarygin was a Soviet and Russian heavyweight freestyle wrestler. Between 1970 and 1980 he won all his major international competitions, except for the 1970 and 1974 European championships where he placed second. Yarygin was an Olympic champion in 1972 and 1976, being the first wrestler to go through an Olympic competition with straight pin victories and no foul points, a world champion in 1973, a World Cup winner five times, has never lost a single match in World Cup competition, and a European champion in 1972 and 1975–76, and won a world cup in 1973, 1976–77 and 1979–80. He also set a record for the fastest pin victory in the World Cup history at 27 seconds. After retiring in 1980, he headed the Soviet freestyle wrestling team from 1982 to 1992 and the Russian Wrestling Federation from 1993 until his untimely death in a car crash in 1997. An exceptional upper-body wrestler, Yarygin was widely regarded for his tremendous physique and high-strength aggressive style, always aiming to pin down his opponents, with most of his stoppage wins came by way of fall achieved through rapid fireman's lift and slamming the opponent to the mat. One of the most prestigious tournaments in the World was put together in his honor - The Golden Grand Prix Ivan Yarygin Tournament is held annually in Krasnoyarsk, Russia, and has the reputation of being one of the hardest tournaments in the World. The Yarygin Memorial annually sees the world's best wrestlers come to Siberia, with the added element that Russia's autonomous oblasts and republics such as Dagestan and Chechnya field independent teams alongside an All-Russia selection.
David Rudman was a Russian-American wrestler, Sambo world champion, and judo European champion.
Gregory P. Gibson is a retired American wrestler who competed in the heavyweight division He is the only American to win world medals in three styles of wrestling — Freestyle, Greco-Roman and Sambo. While serving with the U.S. Marines, stationed at Quantico, Va., he won a silver medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Greco-Roman, as well as two silver and a bronze medal in freestyle at the world championships from 1981 to 1983.
The European Wrestling Championships is the second oldest international wrestling competition of the modern world and the main wrestling championships in Europe. It predates World Wrestling Championships and other regional wrestling championships and is second only to the wrestling events at the Olympics. From its inception in 1898 till 1927 only Greco-Roman wrestling was contested. Since 1929 separate freestyle wrestling events were held as well. Since 1970 the two Olympic wrestling styles were contested together during the same unified events. Since 1973 Sambo wrestling was included into the championships programme along with GR and freestyle wrestling. Since 2014 associated traditional wrestling styles recognized globally by UWW were incorporated into the annual championships schedule.
International Federation of Amateur SAMBO is the world governing body for the sport of Sambo.
The World Sambo Championships are the main championships in Sambo and Combat Sambo, organized by the Fédération Internationale de Sambo (FIAS).
World Beach Wrestling Championships is the annual world championship organized by United World Wrestling for the sport of beach wrestling.
Yaroslav Amosov is a Ukrainian mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Welterweight division of Bellator MMA, where he is the former Bellator Welterweight Champion. As of December 8, 2023, he is #8 in the Bellator men's pound-for-pound rankings and #1 in the Bellator Welterweight Rankings.
The 1973 World Sambo Championships were held in Tehran, Iran on September 6–11. It was the first World Sambo Championships. The participating teams were from Bulgaria, Mongolia, Iran, Spain, Japan, United States, USSR, Yugoslavia, etc. For the first time World Sambo Championships was part of the FILA World Wrestling Championships
The Pan American Wrestling Championships is the continental wrestling championships for nations from North America, Central America, South America and the Caribbean. Three wrestling styles, recognized internationally by UWW, have been contested annually since the inception, namely: Greco-Roman, freestyle and Sambo wrestling. Since 1997, women's freestyle has also been contested along with the mentioned wrestling styles.
Tehran, Iran 
Soviet Union 
