Nestoras Batzelas (; born January 7, 1980, in

Larissa Larissa (; , , ) is the capital and largest city of the Thessaly region in Greece. It is the fifth-most populous city in Greece with a population of 148,562 in the city proper, according to the 2021 census. It is also the capital of the Larissa ...

Thessalia Thessaly ( ; ; ancient Aeolic Greek#Thessalian, Thessalian: , ) is a traditional geographic regions of Greece, geographic and modern administrative regions of Greece, administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient Thessaly, a ...

) is a Greek MMA fighter and retired amateur freestyle wrestler, who competed in the men's super heavyweight category. Batzelas has been selected to the nation's Olympic wrestling team when

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

hosted the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

, and also trained as a member of the wrestling team for E.A. Larissa, under his personal coach Konstantinos Avramis. Batzelas qualified for the Greek squad in the men's super heavyweight class (120 kg), when

welcomed the world to the

. He filled up an entry by the International Federation of Association Wrestling and the

Hellenic Olympic Committee The Hellenic Olympic Committee (HOC, ) is the governing Olympic body of Greece. It is the second-oldest National Olympic Committee in the world (after the French Olympic Committee), it organizes the country's representatives at the Olympic Gam ...

, as Greece received an automatic berth for being the host nation. He lost his opening match to 2000 Olympic bronze medalist Alexis Rodríguez of Cuba on technical superiority, but bounced back to dismantle Ukraine's

Serhii Priadun Serhii Anatoliyovych Priadun (; born October 11, 1974, in Kharkiv Oblast, Ukrainian SSR) is a retired amateur Ukrainian freestyle wrestler, who competed in the men's super heavyweight category. He won three medals (two silver and one bronze) at t ...

with a 5–0 decision in front of the home crowd inside

Ano Liossia Olympic Hall SUNEL Arena (stylised as SUNEL arena), also known as the Ano Liosia Olympic Hall (), is a multi-purpose Arena, indoor arena located in Ano Liosia, in the western section of Athens, Athens, Greece. Originally built to host martial arts events duri ...

. Placing second in the prelim pool and thirteenth overall, Batzelas' performance fell short to put him further into the quarterfinals.

Championships and accomplishments

MMA

*No Limits **No Limits Heavyweight Champion (1 Time)

Professional mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center, 6-2 , Ioannis Arzoumanidis , Decision (Unanimous) , MMA Challenge Pro 2 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...

, Greece , For MMA Challenge Pro Heavyweight Championship. , - , Win , align=center, 6-1 , George Katsinopoulos , TKO (Punches) , No Limits 23 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, ,

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Ricco Rodriguez Ricco Rodriguez (born August 19, 1977) is an American former mixed martial artist who competed in the Heavyweight (MMA), heavyweight division. A professional competitor from 1999 to 2019, he competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship, UFC, ...

, TKO (punches) , Final Fight Championship 10 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 3:33 ,

Skopje Skopje ( , ; ; , sq-definite, Shkupi) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It lies in the northern part of the country, in the Skopje Basin, Skopje Valley along the Vardar River, and is the political, economic, and cultura ...

, Macedonia , , - , Win , align=center, 5-0 , Julian Chilikov , Submission (Guillotine Choke) , GFC - Greek Fighting Championship 4 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, ,

, Greece , , - , Win , align=center, 4-0 , Emil Zahariev , Submission (Heel Hook) , No Limits 20 Νέστωρας Μπατζέλας: Το ήξερα ότι θα είναι εύκολο
/ref> , , align=center, 1 , align=center, ,

, Greece , , - , Win , align=center, 3-0 , Emil Zahariev , TKO (RTD) , , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, Greece , , - , Win , align=center, 2-0 , Borislav Balabanov , TKO (Punches) , Throwdown MMA Championship , , align=center, 1 , align=center, , Greece , , - , Win , align=center, 1-0 , Marian Rusu , Submission (Punches) , GFC - Greek Fighting Championship 2 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:27 ,

, Greece , , -

Amateur mixed martial arts record

, Loss , align=center, 0-1 , Allen Crowder , TKO (Referee Stoppage) , Battle In The South VI , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:26 ,

Wilmington, North Carolina Wilmington is a port city in New Hanover County, North Carolina, United States. With a population of 115,451 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, eighth-most populous city in the st ...

, United States , Fight was for the Heavyweight Title. , -

References

External links

Profile – International Wrestling Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Batzelas, Nestoras 1980 births Living people Greek male sport wrestlers Olympic wrestlers for Greece Wrestlers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Larissa Greek male mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing freestyle wrestling 21st-century Greek sportsmen