Nikolai Zouev

[Grimmas]

Control21 said: 

Certainly doesn't have the resume that Volk Han has, but he was one of the smoothest workers in RINGS and is an example of an intricate technical wrestler that has a lot of finesse to his game. He was probably one of the guys that brought a lot of flavor to RINGS' early period along with Volk Han, Kopylov, Willie Peeters, and Dick Vrij. He was a great SAMBO specialist and his matches really stood out from other shoot-style stuff at the time. I think Kopylov, Zouev, and Han are the best wrestlers to ever come out of Russia and I would rank them above Zangiev and Hashimikov if I am being honest. If we are considering the entire work-shoot spectrum, they founded Russia Top Team, which was a pioneering group for Russia's MMA development. A good example of someone who could sneak into my top 100 based on pure technical ability.

Recommended matches -

Nikolai Zouev vs Andrei Kopylov (10/23/93)

Nikolai Zouev vs Volk Han (11/18/93)

Nikolai Zouev vs Kiyoshi Tamura (6/21/97)

Nikolai Zouev vs Tsuyoshi Kohsaka (11/20/98)

[Jetlag]

Another guy with about 20 matches. He is good, but never made me think more than "wow another cool Russian grappler".

[Control21]

Per the Russian SAMBO federation, Nikolai Zouev passed away on May 21st from "heart issues." Of course, deaths are irrelevant to this project but I figured it was worth noting. Perhaps people will take the time to view some of his work. He will probably not make a ton of lists but he was a solid wrestler and I think some of his stuff is worth checking out anyways, especially his matches against Volk Han and Tamura. There are now a ton of RINGS shows uploaded on Youtube. Rest in peace.