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Amar Suloev

This is going to be another weird one. Amar Suloev is one of the best Russian fighters in mixed martial arts history, a vicious, aggressive striker with a background in combat sambo that led to his having a kneebar variant named after him. He won three world championship tournaments, fought across the biggest organizations in mixed martial arts history, and amassed a very impressive record during a decade of competition. Amar Suloev is a genuine pioneer of mixed martial arts in Russia.

He is also allegedly a professional assassin who murdered multiple people.

Yeah, it's one of those.

Amar Suloev was an early standout in the Eastern-European MMA scene and one of the foundational talents behind the legendary Red Devil Sport Club that one day produced Fedor Emelianenko and Gegard Mousasi. His career didn't start particularly well--he went 1-2 in his first year as a competitor, including a debut loss to the equally legendary Andrei Semenov--but he bounced back not in his home country, but in the Brazilian World Vale Tudo Championship 11 event, a one-night, 8-man, no-gloves tournament--culminating in a championship win in which he avenged the Semenov loss.

One-night tournaments formed the bedrock of Suloev's reputation as a fighter. Just four and a half months after his vale tudo win, Suloev entered M-1's 2000 World Championship and choked out two men in one night to take the trophy. One year later, he defeated three men in one night again to take the 2 Hot 2 Handle 3: Hotter Than Hot tournament, which might be my favorite name for an MMA event. By the beginning of 2002, Suloev was one of the best fighters Russia had to offer, ranked top ten in the world at the then-nebulous middleweight/light-heavyweight range, and with a total record of 13-2, more than legitimate as a contender. The UFC, recently acquired by Zuffa and trying to legitimize itself as an international organization, took notice.

Suloev's UFC career was short and unsuccessful. His first opponent was a 9-1 kickboxer who was just a couple years removed from being a worldwide superstar, Chuck Liddell. Liddell presented the stiffest striking challenge Suloev had ever faced, and left the normally aggressive Russian backpedaling for the duration of their fight. The UFC followed the loss by giving Suloev the considerably less terrifying Phil Baroni--and Baroni dropped and finished him in two and a half minutes. Suloev went home to Russia as a UFC washout, briefly considered retirement--and instead rattled off three stoppage wins in a row, including one over future titlist Yushin Okami. Once again, Suloev was ranked, and once again, the big leagues came calling--this time in the form of Pride.

Between 2004 and 2006, Suloev went 2-2 with Pride. He took an incredibly boring decision win over jiu-jitsu ace Dean Lister, got steamrolled by the then-unstoppable Paulo Filho, got past the first round of the legendary 2006 Welterweight Grand Prix against Murilo Bustamante and got blown out by Denis Kang. That was the pattern with Suloev--he was a fantastic fighter that beat the vast majority of his opponents, but just couldn't get past top contenders. He'd retire in 2008 with a final record of 24-7, having been beaten one last time by Chael Sonnen.

Here's where things get weird.

Amar Suloev was arrested in 2013 and charged with arms trafficking and murder. According to the prosecution, he was part of a six-man mob led by Russian politician Sergei Zirinov that had murdered people that politically opposed them, including a local businessman, his wife and one of their compatriots. Allegedly they also attempted to murder the leader of a rival political group, but failed and killed his driver. The case stretched on for three years, with witnesses providing varied and conflicting reports; the prosecution provided testimony damning the accused, the accused provided witnesses giving them alibis.

The prosecution wasn't certain they could prove Suloev was guilty. But they were certain it was irrelevant. By late 2015, Suloev was visibly unwell; over the turn of the year to 2016 he reportedly lost almost fifty pounds, reported constant dizzy spells, and was discovered to be bleeding internally. Doctors confirmed he was suffering from stage four stomach cancer--the kind you generally don't survive. It took several more months for Suloev to be remanded to a hospital instead of a prison, and shortly after he was released on bail for his final days. He died in his childhood home on June 27, 2016, six months after his 40th birthday.

No one will ever know if Amar Suloev was a killer. His training partners held through his death that he had been framed, the crime pinned on him by a prosecution placing blame on him for his background as a Yazidi. The authorities held they had plenty of legitimate reasons to suspect him. I don't know enough to pass any kind of moral judgment on the man. All I can say is 40 is far, far too young to die.

Moveset, stats, logic and four attires (Pride: Bushido 4 vs Lister / UFC 37 vs Baroni / M-1 World Championship 1999 vs Semenov / BodogFight: Alvarez vs Lee vs Sonnen).