When MMA was still in its formative years back in the mid-1990’s, different styles of martial arts would often be found going up against each other in the cage, offering a chance to see which were truly effective in a full-contact scenario.

The fight in question here was the opening bout in a one-night tournament at the very first IAFC ‘Absolute Fighting Eurasian Championship’ event in Moscow, Russia all the way back in 1995.

In one corner was Mikhail Ilyukhin, a specialist in the art of Sambo, a martial art developed to improve Soviet soldiers hand-to-hand combat skills in the 1920’s that incorporated both striking and grappling.

His opponent was Piotr Tjernov, whose background was in the art of Kung Fu, a world famous fighting style with a deep-rooted history in China.

Tjernov was light on his feet and agile at the start of the fight as he danced around his opponent looking for opportunities to strike.

However, Ilyukhin had other ideas and simply barreled straight into an early takedown, ignoring Tjernov’s attempt to land a downward elbow strike to the head as he brought him to the canvas.

Leg locks are a significant factor in many Sambo fighters arsenal and Ilyukhin was clearly well versed in this as he soon dropped back for an Achilles Lock submission.

Tjernov simply didn’t know how to deal with the submission and in a matter of moments was frantically tapping out to the hold, with the finish coming just 36 seconds into the fight.

“>

Remarkably, Ilyukhin would win no less than five fights in a row that night to win the tournament, with each victory coming early in the opening round by way of submission – four by Achilles lock and one by rear-naked choke.

Tjernov never fought again after his loss, but Ilyukhin would go on to compete for the likes of Rings, PRIDE and K-1 Hero’s during his 10-year MMA career, compiling a record of 30-11, including a submission victory by kimura against UFC legend Randy Couture.