Grachev, Denis Alexandrovich

Grachev was born in 1982 in the city of Tchaikovsky , Perm Region . He started kickboxing training at the age of 14. In 2005, Grachev graduated from the Tchaikovsky State Institute of Physical Culture with a bachelor's degree in physical education.

In 2006, Grachev moved to San Diego , California . Denis competed in the USA according to Muay Thai rules.

When Denis Grachev first came to the United States , he did not speak English and studied in one of the language classes in San Diego . During this period, he combined kickboxing with mixed martial arts. Due to the lack of popularity of kickboxing in the USA, Denis Grachev ultimately gave full preference to boxing in 2011 . Grachev stated that boxing was more interesting for him, but in his hometown there were no normal halls, and he preferred kickboxing in the early stages of his sports career.

As a kickboxing fan, Grachev reached a record of 123–18, with 40 early wins.

In 2004 , Grachev at the World Championships in Basel ( Switzerland ), won a bronze medal in the weight category up to 81 kg. The following year, at the Amateur World Championships in Szeged , ( Hungary ), Grachev won the gold medal according to the rules of full contact, and also earned the classification of an international master of sports in kickboxing.

Grachev is also a four-time winner of the Russian kickboxing championships. In 2006, according to the rules of full contact, in the weight category up to 86 kg, in Chelyabinsk Grachev won bronze. Three times Denis won gold. In 2006 , in Samara (-81 Kg) (easy contact). In 2006 , in Cherepovets (-84 Kg) (light contact). And in 2005 , in Novomoskovsk (-81 Kg) (full contact).

After moving to the United States in 2006 , Grachev competed in his first kickboxing match in Muay Thai kickboxing against Manson Gibson legend on July 7, 2007 . The fight was sanctioned by the International Kickboxing Federation with the Muay Thai Light Heavyweight World Championships. Grachev won the world title with a third round TKO over Gibson. Gibson's corner threw in a towel from the Russians too much dominance.

November 29, 2007 , Grachev became WBC Muay Thai light heavyweight champion.

In 2007, in addition to kickboxing, Grachev decided to do Mixed Martial Arts .

Denis won the first three matches by knockout. In August 2008 , in his fourth match, Denis lost on points to Brazilian Ricardo Funchu.

With statistics 3-1, Grachev completed his performance in MMA.

Grachev made his debut in a professional boxing ring in July 2007 . He spent 2-3 fights a year, which was not much for a debutant, but given the combination with other martial arts, Grachev often went into the ring. He spent 8 victorious fights, and the next fight drew with the Mexican jornimen Ernesto Castaneda.

After a contentious battle, Grachev did not enter the ring for more than a year. The first fight after returning and the final transition to boxing, not combining with kickboxing, Grachev defeated the undefeated Haitian boxer, Azea Augustam (8-0) in January 2011.

In May 2011, Denis knocked out in the 5th round of the undefeated American, Vlad Bioss (11-0). The fight was very tough, and Grachev several times shook the right cross of the American until the referee stopped the fight.

After 2 months, Grachev knocked out the American jornimen, Eddie Kaminero and won the youth continental and intercontinental titles under the WBC light heavyweight title.

Grachev vs. Sillah

In April 2012 , Denis entered the ring with an undefeated Ukrainian, Ismail Sillah (17-0) for the NABF title of North America. Grachev was also undefeated, but the stakes and odds on Sillah’s victory were 10 to 1. The tough and technical Ukrainian in the third round sent Grachev to the canvas, but Denis immediately went on the attack, demonstrating that he was not shocked by the knockdown. From the second half of the battle, Grachev increased his pace, and in the 8th round he greatly shocked the Ukrainian. Noticing that Sillah “swam” from the blow, Grachev rushed to finish him, and this forced the referee to intervene in the match and stop the fight. Grachev won by TKO in the 8th round ^[1] .

Grachev vs. Bute

November 3, 2012 , Denis Grachev went to Canada to fight with the Romanian boxer, former world champion, Lucian Bute . The first half of the battle came out quite competitive. Grachev went into close combat, but Bute tried to heal the Russians from a distance. From the second half of the match, the Romanian tactics began to justify itself, and the total number of accurate hits fell on Lucian Bute . The last rounds, the Romanian boxer openly demonstrated his superiority in the ring, but Denis accepted the fight before the final gong, and adequately held it. After 12 rounds, by a close decision of the judges, the victory was awarded to Lucian Bute . But despite the defeat, Grachev confidently demonstrated competitive opposition to the former world champion ^{[2] [3]} .

Monaco Tournament

On March 30, 2013 in Monaco, Denis Grachev entered the ring with a non-defeated veteran, 39-year-old former world champion Zsolt Erdei . From the first minutes of the battle, the class and the high level of the Hungarian age boxer were visible. Erdei was very fast, and delivered more accurate punches. By the second half of the battle, the Hungarian was a little tired, and the Russian raised his activity. According to the results of 10 rounds, a separate decision of the judges awarded the victory to Grachev. Many observers agreed that Erdei robbed the judges, and he was more convincing in a duel with Grachev ^[4] .

On July 13, the final fight for the prize of $ 1,000,000 took place. 60% of which was supposed to be the winner of the final battle. Denis lost by knockout in the first round from the Dominican Edwin Rodriguez . Rodriguez knocked down Grachev three times and by the end of the first round forced the referee to stop the bout.

March 15, 2014 Grachev devastatingly lost on points to the boxer from Malawi, Isaac Chilembe ^[5] .

• Grachev, Denis Aleksandrovich (English) - statistics of professional fights on BoxRec website
• MMA statistics on sherdog.com