In the eyes of Asian fight fans, Igor Svirid came from nowhere to stop Leandro Ataides and become the inaugural ONE FC 185-pound champion, courtesy of one of the most shocking knockouts of the year last month. However, Svirid was far from an overnight sensation. He signed for Asia’s biggest MMA promotion on the back of a nine-fight winning streak and credits his trainers in Kazakhstan with laying the foundations for the win over Ataides. “I represent Arnau-RS, which is a new gym and my fight gym that was only opened a couple of weeks before my fight. My trainer is Almas Boltanovych Rakhmanberdie and I think that my last fight showed that the trainers at this gym are not worse than those in other places like Europe, Japan, or America.” Svirid says he could have joined the Alash Pride KZ gym, which is the best known in the country and frequently sends fighters to compete on a promotion of the same name but prefers to try and grow his own camp