Best Upcoming Dagestan MMA Fighters to Watch (Top 8)
Located in the northwest of the Caspian Sea, Dagestan has become the main source of some of the best MMA talents. You see, people recall this small region mainly for three things:
- Gorgeous mountain scenery
- Turbulent history
- Amazing combat sports athletes
Dagestan has always been and always will be a home of world-class fighters. The nation is putting a lot of resources into combat sports, and you can find a gym on every corner. Martial arts are a part of their warrior culture, and growing up in such a rough region doesn’t offer you many other choices.
As a result, the Dagestan mountain villages gave the world many Olympic and world champions. And in recent years, they are slowly conquering the world of MMA as well. I mean, one data shows that Dagestan MMA fighters have won 87% of their total bouts! That’s insane!
In this article, we are bringing you the future MMA champions coming from Dagestan. We will try to stay away from the famous names and present to you the ones you have likely never heard of.
Magomed Ankalaev
Ankalaev is a heavy-handed striker who, of course, has a strong grappling base. He started his martial art journey training in Greco-Roman wrestling during the college days. He then moved to fight in Combat Sambo before joining MMA in 2014.
After putting together a record of five straight wins, Magomed signed with the famous eastern promotion called WCFA. He went on to score four amazing KO’s out of five wins, capture the belt in the process, and sign with the UFC.
But, he was a bit unlucky in his UFC debut. He faced one of the best BJJ fighters, Paul Craig. Ankalaev dominated the fight for 14 minutes and 59 seconds and lost. Yes, he literally lost his debut fight via submission in the last second of the fight.
Magomed bounced back with a couple of stunning KOs. The one against Cutelaba at UFC Fight Night 169 was a nasty one. He has already established himself in the division, and we may expect a lot of him in the following years.
Said Nurmagomedov
Even though they share the same family name, Said is not Khabib’s cousin or associated with his family in any way. That’s a really common family name in Dagestan. What they do share, however, are really good fighting skills. Don’t get us wrong here, we are not comparing Said to Khabib, but he has that Dagestan fire in him.
Said started his MMA career fighting in amateur matches before turning pro in 2009. He then fought in the famous ACB promotion where he was the 135lbs champ. In 2016, he signed with the WFCA promotion where he also holds a perfect record and was the 125lbs champ.
When he arrived in the UFC in 2018, Said didn’t get special treatment. In his second fight, he faced Ricardo Ramos who was on a three fight win streak. But, this didn’t bother Said who went on to put on a statement by knocking Ramos out in the opening minutes of the fight.
We expect to see more from him in the following years.
Umar Nurmagomedov
There is a bunch of reasons why Umar is a huge potential and, perhaps, the future world champ. Apart from his insane fighting skills, this time he actually is the close cousin of the UFC champ Khabib Nurmagomedov. This means he lives and breathes with some of the best MMA fighters and coaches in the world.
Umar is a young and very skillful fighter. He has an elite background in Muay Thai and is a relentless grappler just like his cousin. He also trains both in Dagestan and in the famous AKA gym in California which has been the home of Dagestan fighters for many years now.
Despite being so young, Umar already has all the skills to compete at the elite level. Unlike some other Dagestan fighters, Umar is not relying too much on grappling. He feels loose fighting any type of fight and his standup skills are really, really good.
The UFC spotted his talent just on time and they decided to sign him in 2020.
Islam Mamedov
Born in Derbent, Dagestan, Mamedov is a relentless grappler who has amazing finishing skills. He made a name for himself while fighting in the WSOF promotion where he holds an unbeaten record of 5–0. One of his wins came against a man who would later become the PFL champ, Natan Schulte.
Mamedov then went on to sign with PFL and look very good in the first couple of fights. The biggest moment in his career came when he KO’d Yincang Bao inside the first round at PFL 5.
Islam is a battle-proven athlete who has all the skills needed to fight against the best fighters. We are more than excited to see him signing with the UFC or Bellator in the future. It’s just a matter of moment before he does so.
Askar Askarov
Askar might be the biggest MMA prospect coming out of the Dagestan region. I mean, the man is a machine and he has a really inspiring story.
Askar was born deaf and can hear only about 20% of the sounds. Yet this hasn’t stopped him from winning the Deaflympics in freestyle wrestling and to become an elite MMA fighter. He truly is a very inspiring athlete.
Askar started his MMA career fighting in the famous ACB promotion. Inside the ACB cage, he scored seven straight stoppages and was the flyweight champ. In 2019, he decided to sign with the UFC and test his skills against the best fighters in the world.
In his first couple of fights, Askar showed us a well-rounded game. His boxing and Muay Thai skills are very good. And of course, he also has good wrestling and BJJ skills.
Make sure to follow him closely because Askar will soon become a serious contender. And in our opinion, he might try for the UFC belt in 2021.
Zubaira Tukhugov
Many fight fans know Zubaira for his role in the famous post UFC 229 brawl between Khabib and Conor. This single incident had a huge impact on his MMA career. The NSAC gave him a one year suspension from fighting.
Zubaira is a very talented and exciting fighter to watch simply because of his wild style. I mean, the man is a nuclear bomb inside the cage and he enjoys being in brawls and wild wars. He has very good striking skills and is also an expert in Combat Sambo.
He was 3–1 inside the UFC cage before the UFC 229 incident. But the suspension clearly stopped him in his tracks as he had to take almost two year layoff.
But he came back strong in 2019 to knock out Kevin Aguilar and become relevant inside the division once again.
Shamil Gamzatov
Make sure to remember this name because Shamil is about to rise really fast. He is one of the biggest Dagestan prospects who signed with the UFC in just about the right time.
Shamil started his martial arts journey in freestyle wrestling at eight years of age. But unlike some of the other Dagestan fighters, he left the sport after a couple of years because of the injury.
He shifted to MMA at the age of 15 and he won the European and World MMA titles in the following years. On top of that, Shamil was also Dagestan national kickboxing champ. And, he had a lot of success fighting in Combat Sambo as well.
The biggest moment of his fighting career came when he became the World Grappling (92kg) champ. And he was also the Abu Dhabi grappling winner three times.
I mean, his martial art resume speaks about his talent and potential. Once again, be sure to remember his name. He is a problem for every fighter in the UFC’s 205lbs division.
Muslim Salikhov
Along Khabib, Salikhov is the most popular fighter in Dagestan and a true role model. Even though he is yet to achieve something big in MMA, he is very successful outside of it.
Like all Dagestan fighters, he too enrolled in martial arts at a very young age. He started his journey in Wushu Sanda in the early 2000s and went on to become many European and World champ many times. In fact, many pros see him as the best Wushu Sanda fighter in history.
Salikhov also has a lot of experience fighting in kickboxing matches. He stepped inside the ring on 200 occasions and owns an amazing record of 185 wins and just 13 losses.
Shortly after retiring from Wushu, Salikhov joined MMA in 2011. He fought in various promotions and compiled a record of 13–1 before receiving a call from the UFC.
Salikhov failed to deliver in his UFC debut in 2017. But he bounced back with a couple of amazing KOs and unanimous decision wins. Even though he is deep in his 30s, we believe Salikhov has a lot in him.
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