Vladimir Matyushenko

From CageWiki

1 Profile
2 Early Career
3 UFC (2001 - 2003)
4 IFL and Affliction
5 UFC (2009 - Present)
6 Mixed martial arts record
7 Gallery
8 External links

Profile

Vladimir "The Janitor" Matyushenko (born January 1, 1971) is a Belarussian professional mixed martial artist and was the first and only IFL light heavyweight champion.

He stands 6 ft. 1 in. (185 cm) tall and fights in the light heavyweight division (205 lbs.).

Matyushenko is a former UFC light heavyweight title challenger and currently fights as a light heavyweight for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

Early Career

Vladimir Matyushenko made his professional mixed martial arts debut on September 5, 1997 as part of a one night, eight-man tournament held by the International Fighting Championship (IFC). His first fight came against Lion's Den fighter, Vernon White who he submitted with a neck crank in a little under six minutes.

Matyushenko took out the IFC tournament by forcing his next two opponents - Robert Lalonde and Anthony Macias - to submit to punches.

A second victory over Macias followed eight months later and after three more victories (including Travis Fulton) he rematched White in October, 1999. White would get the better of Matyushenko on two of the three scorecards after 25 minutes.

Matyushenko rebounded well by picking up victories in both of his fights in 2000, with John Marsh and Tom Sauer acting as the victims.

UFC (2001 - 2003)

With an impressive 9-1 record, Matyushenko earned himself a call up to the UFC. He made his debut at UFC 32 in June, 2001 against much smaller Japanese fighter, Yuki Kondo. Matyushenko used his size well and overpowered Kondo for three rounds en route to a unanimous decision victory.

When Vitor Belfort had to pull out of his light heavyweight title clash with Tito Ortiz at UFC 33, Matyushenko stepped in on short notice. Drained from the weight cut he was outwrestled by Ortiz and defeated via unanimous decision after five rounds.

Just under a year later, Matyushenko returned to competition outside of the UFC as he scored a very impressive unanimous decision over Antonio Rogerio Nogueira at a UFO event.

The win was enough to earn Matyushenko a return to the UFC, which he successfully made at UFC 40 when he forced Travis Wiuff to submit to punches inside the first round.

At UFC 41, Matyushenko met perennial contender, Pedro Rizzo in a heavyweight bout. Matyushenko used his superior wrestling ability to keep Rizzo on his back or guessing on the feet to earn himself a unanimous decision victory.

Seven months later, Matyushenko was pitted up against a fellow Belarussian in the form of Andrei Arlovski. "The Janitor" was no match for Arlovski on the feet and was knocked cold right on the two minute mark of round 1.

Following the loss, Matyushenko parted company with the UFC.

IFL and Affliction

Having almost a two year break from competition after the Arlovski KO, Matyushenko returned to action in Brazil where he earned a 26-second TKO win via injury over Carlos Barreto.

Another year break followed before Matyushenko record his next appearance and victory as he submitted the tough Anthony Ruiz with an armbar just 2:03 into the fight.

Matyushenko found a promotional home to begin 2007 as he signed with the International Fight League (IFL). He made his IFL debut with a quick submission win over Dwayne Compton.

Quick TKO victories over Justin Levens and Aaron Stark followed in his next two IFL outings pushing his win streak to five.

After a number of opponents fell through, Matyushenko faced Tim Boetsch in August, 2007 and recorded his fourth IFL victory as he used takedowns and dominating ground and pound to wear out "The Barbarian" and record a unanimous decision in his favor.

In November, Matyushenko was awarded the chance to fight for the first ever IFL light heavyweight title. He faced TUF 1's Alex Schoenauer for the title and although Schoenauer threatened with a kneebar at one point, Matyushenko dominated the contest and captured the title.

In the lone defense of his title and his last IFL appearance, Matyushenko flattened Jamal Patterson in April, 2008 - winning via second round TKO.

Following the demise of the IFL, Matyushenko signed with Affliction Entertainment. He made his debut at Affliction: Day of Reckoning in early 2009 against Antonio Rogerio Nogueira in a rematch from their 2002 clash. The bout would go differently this time around though as Matyushenko was knocked out with a knee in the second round following a lackluster first. The loss snapped an eight fight win streak that stretched back to 2005.

Matyushenko put the loss behind him however to record a dominating unanimous decision over UFC castoff, Jason Lambert at a Call To Arms event four months later.