American Strangler or Ukrainian Champion? Who Wins? George Garcia vs. Yuri Chobuka
2026 · Wrestling · Wrestling
American Strangler or Ukrainian Champion? Who Wins? George Garcia vs. Yuri Chobuka
American Strangler or Ukrainian Champion? Who Wins? George Garcia vs. Yuri Chobuka
2026
Wrestling
On March 30, 2019, the M-1 Challenge 101 international mixed martial arts tournament was held in Almaty. It featured a 63 kg catchweight bout between George Garcia (USA), 8-3, and Yuriy Chobuka (Ukraine), 10-1. American fighter George Garcia, nicknamed "The Magnificent," was a true master of ground fighting, achieving six of his eight victories using his signature move, the rear naked choke. During his four-year professional career, this athlete competed for various American promotions, including King of the Cage, and was the California Xtreme Fighting champion in two weight classes – flyweight and bantamweight. He also won four amateur mixed martial arts bouts. Yuriy Chobuka was a Ukrainian pankration champion and an MMA PRO champion. In the M-1 Challenge ranks, he had victories over Akhmadkhan Bokov and Steve Polifont, and by the time of the fight, his winning streak had already reached nine fights in a row. Like his future opponent, Yuriy had won most of his fights via submissions and chokeholds. The ranks pitted two experienced and technical fighters. Both are skilled in ground fighting, and this was a close fight. The American athlete was tasked with making his debut in a tournament outside his country with a victory, while the Ukrainian was completely unwilling to end his brilliant streak and lose his title shot. So, the audience was in for a very interesting fight, in which it was difficult to predict the winner. #Knockout #fight #M1