Gheorghe "The Carpathian Bear" Ignat (born December 11, 1983, in Suceava, Romania) is a mixed martial artist with a background in Greco-Roman Wrestling.
Wrestling career
Gheorghe Ignat is the 8-time Greco-Roman Heavyweight Wrestling champion of Romania. He is also the current Balkan champion, as well as winner of multiple Silver and Bronze Medals in numerous International Wrestling championships. He won more than 40 medals in total.
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.
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.
Gheorghe Ignat later transitioned from the sport called Greco-Roman Wrestling to the sport called Mixed Martial Arts.
Sambo career
Gheorghe Ignat is a 2-time Sambo (Russian martial arts) champion of Romania. Gheorghe started his Sambo career in 2014, winning the Romanian Nationals in the same year, receiving double gold medals in Sambo Combat and Sambo Sportiv. In May 2014, Ignat won the bronze medal at the European Sambo Championship.
Mixed Martial Arts career
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. 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. He has a clean record of 6 wins with 0 loses.
Personal life
Gheorghe Ignat is married to his childhood sweetheart, Adriana, and together they have 4 children. In 2013, Gheorghe and Adriana became practicing evangelical Christians, an event that had a profound, life-changing impact on the couple. Gheorghe gave up practicing contact sports and focused on deepening his Christian life, and he and Adriana started different social projects to help, vulnerable people. Though they had made the decision to devote their lives to doing good, this new life wasn't to come to be without first paying for past mistakes. In 2015, Gheorghe Ignat was sentenced to 4 years in prison for acts committed many years prior, when he was young. During his time in prison, Gheorghe continued to devote himself to his new Christian faith, even leading Bible studies and prayer meetings in prison and receiving commendations from prison authorities for the positive impact this work was having on the prison inmates. In August 2018, Gheorghe was released from prison with a new vision and passion for serving marginalized, "throw away" members of society, including ex-convicts, the homeless, and the highly impoverished, including the Roma community. Gheorghe he returned to Suceava where he was awaited by his loving wife and family. He became co-owner of a business, Urspack, that produced paper packaging products but, more importantly, had a mission to provide good quality jobs to ex-prisoners who sought to start a new life after paying their debt to society. Soon, Urspack's efforts for ex-prisoners extended beyond a job and included provided temporary housing, emotional/social support, and even food for these men until they could gain indenpendence. Over time, Urspack began hiring other "difficult-to-hire" individuals, including disabled people and refugees from other countries. These experiences led Gheorghe to his great passion, humanitarian work.