[1993-01-23-RINGS] Sotir Gotchev vs Todor Todorov

[KB8]

Kind of a poor man's Eastern European grapplefest, but a fun one and with another few fights under his belt Todorov could be really good (I'm sure I've seen later Todorov fights, but I don't remember anything about them). Gotchev had a bunch of nice throws again, almost setting them up via bearhug before heaving Todorov over and practically onto his head. At one point he hoisted him up, walked around the ring and hit a body slam. I'm not sure what Todorov's discipline is, but he had a killer harai goshi and once or twice he almost tied Gotchev up in suitably RINGS fashion. Finish was really cool too. There's something about a shoot style STF that's just aesthetically pleasing.

[superkix]

A fun exhibition match for Todorov, who was really good at tying Gotchev up in interesting predicaments. He keeps trapping the arm, whipping him down, going for armbars. Gotchev is less of a finesse guy and more of a rough and tumble guy. He isn’t much of a striker but he’ll dump Todorov with a fireman’s carry, or his awesome bearhug suplexes, and when he’s got him on the mat, he keeps trying for a choke. Cool submission finish too.