Eldar "Luka" Kurtanidze ( ka, ელდარ ��უკაკურტანიძე) (born April 16, 1972, in Gulripshi,

Georgian SSR The Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic (Georgian SSR; ka, საქართველოს საბჭოთა სოციალისტური რესპუბლიკა, tr; russian: Грузинская Советская Соц� ...

) is a Georgian

wrestler Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat spo ...

and the

Georgian Dream Georgian Dream – Democratic Georgia ( ka, ქართული ოცნება – დემოკრატიული საქართველო, ''Kartuli ocneba – Demok’rat’iuli Sakartvelo'') is a social democratic political ...

political activist. He has served as the president of the Wrestling Federation of Georgia since December 2012 and Head of Physical Training at the Georgian Police Academy since January 2013.

Wrestling career

Kurtanidze has been a senior professional freestyle wrestler since 1992. He was a bronze medalist in both the Men's Freestyle 90 kg at the 1996 Summer Olympics and also Men's Freestyle 97 kg at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 ( Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from ...

. He also competed in the 2004 Summer Olympics, but was eliminated early. In addition to his Olympic bronzes, he has two gold medals, two silver medals, and one bronze medal from the FILA Senior World Championships. He has received five gold medals, three silver medals, and two bronze medals from the FILA Senior European Championships. In 2006 he raised his weight to compete in the 120 kg class. He made his

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on strike (attack), striking, grappling and ground f ...

debut at the

Pride Fighting Championships PRIDE Fighting Championships (Pride or Pride FC, founded as KRS-Pride) was a Japanese mixed martial arts promotion company. Its inaugural event was held at the Tokyo Dome on October 11, 1997. Pride held more than sixty mixed martial arts eve ...

show on December 31, 2006, against veteran MMA fighter and former amateur wrestler

Kazuyuki Fujita is a Japanese professional wrestler, mixed martial artist and a former amateur wrestler, currently signed to Pro Wrestling Noah, where he is a one-time GHC Heavyweight Champion. He has most recently fought in Road FC, but is also known for ...

. He was defeated via submission (strikes) at 2:09 of round 1.

Political activism

Kurtanidze became involved in the politics of Georgia since 2011. As an ally of the opposition leader

Nino Burjanadze Nino Burjanadze (Georgian: ნინო ბურჯანაძე , also romanized Burdzhanadze or Burdjanadze, born 16 July 1964) is a Georgian politician and lawyer who served as Chairperson of the Parliament of Georgia from November 2001 to ...

he took part in the May 2011 rally against the government of President

Mikheil Saakashvili Mikheil Saakashvili ( ka, მიხეილ სააკაშვილი ; uk, Міхеіл Саакашвілі ; born 21 December 1967) is a Georgian and Ukrainian politician and jurist.

. During the rally, he was involved in a clash with police and was severely beaten up. In 2012 he joined the Georgian Dream coalition led by the billionaire

Bidzina Ivanishvili Bidzina Ivanishvili ( ka, ბიძინა ივანიშვილი, also known as Boris Grigoryevich Ivanishvili ; born 18 February 1956) is a Georgian politician, billionaire businessman and philanthropist, who served as Prime Minist ...

after whose accession to premiership after the 2012 parliamentary election Kurtanidze became the president of Georgia's Wrestling Federation and Head of Physical Training at the Georgian Police Academy. He has been accused of resorting to physical violence against his opponents in the Wrestling Federation.

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center, 0-1 ,

, Submission (strikes) , Pride Shockwave 2006 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:09 , ,

References

External links

Fightagenda.ch

Uni-leipzig.de
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kurtanidze, Eldar 1972 births Living people People from Gulripshi District Wrestlers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Wrestlers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Male sport wrestlers from Georgia (country) Wrestlers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Olympic wrestlers of Georgia (country) Olympic bronze medalists for Georgia (country) Olympic medalists in wrestling Male mixed martial artists from Georgia (country) Mixed martial artists utilizing freestyle wrestling World Wrestling Championships medalists Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics European Wrestling Championships medalists World Wrestling Champions