Gheorghe Ignat

Ignat start his Sambo career (Russian martial arts) in 2014, winning the Romanian Nationals and receiving double gold medals in Sambo Combat and Sambo Sportiv. In May 2014, Ignat received the bronze medal at European Sambo Championship.

In 2010, Ignat fought for the first time in the cage at the MMA Promotion Gladiator Challenge that took place in San Jacinto, California, where defeated Ryan Varela. After 5 years Ignat it is still undefeated in the heavyweight division. In October 2009, Ignat moved to the United States to become a MMA fighter. He joined "The Arena" gym in San Diego. Ignat also instructs Greco-Roman Wrestling to other professional fighters located at The Arena. Ignat's MMA career was halted in 2015 when he was imprisoned for fraud.

He returned to Romania and resumed his wrestling career, winning the Romanian Championships again as well as the Balkans Championship in 2009.

In 1999, he made the Senior Olympic team at the age of 16, the youngest wrestler in Romanian history to do so. He trained with the team for years in Poiana Braşov, a city at the base of the Carpathian Mountains.

In 1995, Ignat began wrestling after he was discovered by Valerica Gherasim. Gherasim paid special attention to Ignat due to his size at the time; 6' tall and 220 lbs by the age of 12. After three years of training, Ignat won a national championship in 1998 and was invited by the Romanian Wrestling Federation (F.R.L.) to the Junior National Team at the age of 15.

Gheorghe "The Carpathian Bear" Ignat (born December 11, 1983, in Suceava, Romania) is a mixed martial artist with a background in Greco-Roman Wrestling.