Pawel Nastula
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Pawel Nastula (born June 26, 1970) is a heavyweight fighter in mixed martial arts, currently competing in the PRIDE Fighting Championships, a Japanese MMA organization. He was the 1995 and 1997 Judo World Champion, and 1996 gold medallist at the Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia.
Nastula received a tough welcome to the PRIDE organisation, immediately facing two of PRIDE's top heavyweight contenders and seasoned professionals in Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Aleksander Emelianenko. Nastula wasted little time lamenting these losses. In his 3rd match in July 2006, Nastula made easy work of previously unbeaten MMA professional Edson Drago.
Nastula is the third judo Olympic gold medalist to compete in PRIDE, following Hidehiko Yoshida and Makoto Takimoto. In addition to the 1996 Summer Olympics, Nastula had won many European and World competitions, and was considered by many one of the top 50 judo players in the world. He also went for 312 consecutive wins over a period of 1,220 days, a monumental feat.
Judo Career Awards
Olympic Games1996 Atlanta 1st Prize
World Championships1991 Barcelona 2nd Prize
1995 Tokyo 1st Prize
1997 Paris 1st Prize
European Championships1994-1996 1st Prize
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