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Amar Suloev

Amar Suloev (January 7, 1976 – June 27, 2016) was an Armenian mixed martial artist.^[1] Following his mixed martial arts career, Suloev became involved in the world of organized crime and was arrested and accused of being a contract killer.^[2] He died of stomach cancer in June 2016.^[3] During his career, he fought for the UFC, PRIDE Fighting Championships, Cage Rage, and M-1 Global.

Suloev was born into a Yazidi-Kurdish family in Tashir, Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic (now Armenia).^[4]

A former kickboxer and Greco-Roman wrestler, Suloev was recruited by the Russian team Red Devil Sport Club and made his debut in national promotion M-1 Global in 1999, losing to Andrei Semenov by armbar. Suloev later avenged his defeat by choking out Semenov in Brazil for World Vale Tudo Championship, winning the WVC 11 Middleweight Tournament in the process.

AtUFC 35, Suloev came to fight in the premier MMA organization of the United States where he faced top light heavyweight Chuck Liddell. The fight went to decision, where Liddell was awarded the win on points. The fight was intense and Suloev demonstrated his level of skill with kickboxing as he avoided the trademark power shots of the feared American fighter. Despite the loss, Amar was one of only seven fighters to take Liddell to decision. The UFC invited him back at UFC 37 to fight Phil Baroni, where a controversial knee by Suloev was landed while Baroni was on his knees getting up, shortly after the referee stood them up, Baroni landed a flurry of punches which stopped Suloev.^[4]

After a brief stint in the UFC, Suloev returned to M-1 Global for a few fights before jumping to the top Japanese MMA promotion Pride Fighting Championships. His first fight in Pride came against top Brazilian Jiu Jitsu ace Dean Lister, which ended in a decision win for Amar. His next fight came against another highly regarded jiu jitsu fighter Paulo Filho, however, in this fight, despite some aggression and relative success in striking on the feet, Filho proved to be the far better grappler, as he got a submission victory. Top Brazilian Top Team fighter, Murilo Bustamante faced Suloev in his next Pride appearance, and on this occasion, Suloev was able to largely keep the fight standing, where his strong kickboxing background guided him to a victory. In his final Pride fight, Denis Kang was his opponent, and much like the fight against Filho, Suloev was unsuccessful in avoiding the submission once the fight reached the canvas.

He was charged as being a part of two assassinations and a third attempt in which a driver was killed. The alleged targets of the attempts were powerful Russian political figures. However, Suloev was never convicted of such things and there were serious problems with the state's case against him. One killer testified that Suloev had been the get away driver. But he did not match eyewitness descriptions of the driver (this in the failed assassination). Even more, his neighbor testified to meeting him on the morning of the attempt at his house at 9:05 am. The attempt occurred at about 9am hundreds of kilometers away.^[5] Some of the five other defendants involved in the case were Sergei Zirinov, a Krasnodar legislative assemblyman and member of president Vladimir Putin's "Unified Russia" Party.

At the time of his death, his trial had been suspended and he had been released on bail following his stage four stomach cancer diagnoses.^[6]

• M-1 Global
  • 2000 M-1 MFC World Championship Tournament Winner^[7]
• 2 Hot 2 Handle
  • 2H2H 3: Hotter Than Hot Tournament Winner
• World Vale Tudo Championship
  • WVC 11 Middleweight Tournament Winner^[8]

• Professional MMA record for Amar Suloev from Sherdog
• Amar SuloevatUFC