Omari Sirazhudinovich Akhmedov (born October 12, 1987) is a Russian professional

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting sport based on striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-stylistic contests took place t ...

who currently competes in the

Light Heavyweight Light heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the division is above and up to , falling between super middleweight and cruiserweight (boxing), cruiserweight. The light heavyweight class has ...

division. He previously fought in the

Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promoter (entertainment), promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority owned subsidiary of Endeavor ( ...

and

Professional Fighters League The Professional Fighters League (PFL) is an American mixed martial arts league founded by venture capitalist Donn Davis in 2017 and launched in 2018, following the acquisition and restructuring of the former World Series of Fighting (WSOF) promot ...

(PFL).

Background

Akhmedov was born on October 12, 1987, in the town of

Kizlyar Kizlyar (; ; , ''Qızlar'') is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town in the Republic of Dagestan, Russia, located on the border with the Chechen Republic in the river delta, delta of the Terek River northwest of Makhachkala, the cap ...

in modern-day

Dagestan Dagestan ( ; ; ), officially the Republic of Dagestan, is a republic of Russia situated in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe, along the Caspian Sea. It is located north of the Greater Caucasus, and is a part of the North Caucasian Fede ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, in a Lak family and is a devout

Sunni Muslim Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Musli ...

. Like many children in

, Akhmedov engaged in

freestyle wrestling Freestyle wrestling is a style of wrestling. It is one of two styles of wrestling contested in the Olympic Games, along with Greco-Roman wrestling, Greco-Roman. scholastic wrestling, High school wrestling and men's collegiate wrestling in the U ...

from a young age and would go on to hold an accomplished career in the sport before transitioning to MMA. Before his career in MMA, Akhmedov also had accomplished careers in combat sambo, as well as Russian hand-to-hand combat and Russian pankration.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Akhmedov made his professional MMA debut on January 30, 2010, when he faced Iskhan Zakharian at ProFC: Fight Night 2. He won the fight via rear-naked choke. Following this, Akhmedov would compile a professional record of 12–1 before being signed by the

in September 2013.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Akhmedov signed a four-fight deal with the UFC in September 2013. In his promotional debut, Akhmedov faced Thiago Perpétuo on November 9, 2013, at UFC Fight Night 32. It was a back-and-forth fight that saw both men rocked by punches before Akhmedov won the fight via knockout. The win also earned him his first ''Fight of the Night'' bonus award. After the fight, Akhmedov expressed a desire to move down to

welterweight Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term ''welterweight'' was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify th ...

. In his welterweight debut, Akhmedov faced Gunnar Nelson on March 8, 2014, at UFC Fight Night: Gustafsson vs. Manuwa. He lost the fight via guillotine choke submission in the first round. Akhmedov faced Mats Nilsson on January 3, 2015, at UFC 182. He won the fight by unanimous decision. Akhmedov faced Brian Ebersole on June 6, 2015, at UFC Fight Night 68, replacing an injured

Alan Jouban Alan Michael Jouban (born November 25, 1982) is an American retired professional mixed martial artist who competed in the Welterweight division. A professional competitor from 2010 to 2021, Jouban has also formerly competed for the Ultimate Fight ...

. He won the fight via TKO after Ebersole was unable to continue after the first round due to a knee injury sustained from a kick by Akhmedov. Akhmedov was expected to face Lyman Good on December 10, 2015, at UFC Fight Night 80. However, Good was pulled from the bout in late October and was replaced by Sérgio Moraes. Akhmedov next faced

Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos (born November 12, 1986) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist. He was the former Jungle Fight welterweight champion in Brazil and currently competes in the Welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UF ...

i on April 16, 2016, at UFC on Fox 19. After arguably winning the first two rounds, Akhmedov was stopped via TKO in the third round. The back and forth action earned both participants ''Fight of the Night'' honors. Akhmedov was tabbed as a short notice replacement for Dominique Steele and faced Kyle Noke on November 27, 2016, at

UFC Fight Night 101 ''UFC Fight Night: Whittaker vs. Brunson'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 101'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship held on November 27, 2016, at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia. Background Thi ...

. He won the fight via unanimous decision. Akhmedov faced Abdul Razak Alhassan on May 28, 2017, at UFC Fight Night 109. He won the fight by split decision. Akhmedov faced Marvin Vettori on December 30, 2017, at

UFC 219 ''UFC 219: Cyborg vs. Holm'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship held on December 30, 2017, at the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas–Paradise, NV MSA, Las Vegas metropolitan area. ...

. One of the judges scored it 29–28 for Vettori, and the others viewed it as a 28–28 draw, with Akhmedov winning the first two rounds, but Vettori having a dominant 10–8 round in the third. 10 out of 15 media outlets scored the bout for Akhmedov while 3 of the 15 scored the bout as a draw. Akhmedov was expected to face CB Dollaway on September 15, 2018, at UFC Fight Night 136. However, Akhmedov pulled out of the fight in early September and was replaced by promotional newcomer Artem Frolov. Akhmedov faced Tim Boetsch on March 9, 2019, at UFC Fight Night 147. He won the fight by unanimous decision. Akhmedov faced Zak Cummings on September 7, 2019, at UFC 242. He won the fight by unanimous decision. Akhmedov faced

Ian Heinisch Ian Edward Heinisch (born August 5, 1988) is an American former mixed martial artist who previously competed in the middleweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional since 2015, he has also competed for the World Series ...

on December 14, 2019, at UFC 245. He won the fight via unanimous decision. Akhmedov faced Chris Weidman on August 8, 2020, at UFC Fight Night 174. He lost the fight via unanimous decision. Akhmedov was briefly linked to a rematch with Marvin Vettori on December 12, 2020, at UFC 256. However, Akhmedov was removed from the bout in mid-October for undisclosed reasons. Akhmedov was expected to face Tom Breese on January 16, 2021, at UFC on ABC 1. During fight week, the UFC opted to move the bout to UFC on ESPN: Chiesa vs. Magny. He won the bout via second round arm triangle submission. Akhmedov faced Brad Tavares on July 10, 2021, at UFC 264. He lost the fight via split decision. After his bout with Tavares, it was announced on July 15, that Akhmedov was released from the UFC.

Professional Fighters League

Akhmedov faced Jordan Young on October 27, 2021, at PFL 10. He lost the bout via TKO in the third round.

2022 season

Akhmedov faced Viktor Pešta on April 23, 2022, at PFL 1. He won the bout after knocking Pešta out in first round. Akhmedov faced Teodoras Aukštuolis on June 17, 2022, at PFL 4. He won the bout after choking out Teodoras in the second round via arm-triangle choke. Akhmedov was scheduled to face Antônio Carlos Júnior in the Semifinals off the Light Heavyweight tournament on August 5, 2022, at PFL 7. However, Antonio suffered an ACL injury requiring surgery, being replaced by Josh Silveira for the playoffs. Akhmedov won the bout via unanimous decision. Akhmedov faced Rob Wilkinson in the finals of the Light Heavyweight tournament on November 25, 2022, at PFL 10. He lost the bout after the fight was stopped by the doctor due to a cut after the second round.

2023 season

Akhmedov was set to start the 2023 season against Will Fleury on April 1, 2023, at PFL 1. However, Akhmedov was forced to withdraw due to suffering an injury and was replaced by Krzysztof Jotko.

Global Fight League

Akhmedov was scheduled to face Derek Brunson in the inaugural Global Fight League event on May 24, 2025 at GFL 1. However, all GFL events were cancelled indefinitely.

Championships and awards

Mixed martial arts

** Fight of the Night (Two times)

Pankration

*Pankration Federation Russia **Russian National Pankration Champion (Two times)

Hand-to-hand combat

*Russian Union of Martial Arts **Russian National Hand-to-Hand Combat Champion (Two times)

Sambo

*Combat Sambo Federation of Russia **Dagestan Combat Sambo Champion

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center, 24–8–1 , Rob Wilkinson , TKO (doctor stoppage) , PFL 10 (2022) , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 5:00 ,

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, Brazil , , - , Win , align=center, 12–1 , Fabricio Nascimento , Submission (guillotine choke) , North Landing Cup 2013 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:53 ,

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, Russia , , - , Win , align=center, 7–1 , Talekh Nazhav-Zade , TKO (punches) , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:20 , , - , Win , align=center, 6–1 , Akbar Nabavizade , TKO (punches) , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:30 , , - , Win , align=center, 5–1 , Mikhail Istomin , Submission (armbar) , rowspan=2, ProFC 34: Global Grand Prix 3 , rowspan=2, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:22 , rowspan=2,

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, Russia , , - , Win , align=center, 4–1 , Vladimir Semenov , Decision (split) , align=center, 2 , align=center, 5:00 , , - , Win , align=center, 3–1 , Musa Arslangadzhiev , TKO (punches) , Urkarakh Fights 2011 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:50 , Urkarakh, Russia , , - , Loss , align=center, 2–1 , Michail Tsarev , Submission (guillotine choke) , ProFC 21: Russia Cup Stage 2 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 4:29 , Ufa, Russia , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , Magomed Umarov , Decision (unanimous) , Legion Fight: Black Sea Cup 2010 (Stage 2) , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 5:00 ,

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References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Akhmedov, Omari 1987 births Laks (Caucasus) Middleweight mixed martial artists Living people People from Kizlyar Russian Sunni Muslims Russian expatriates in the United States Russian sambo practitioners Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters Mixed martial artists utilizing freestyle wrestling Mixed martial artists utilizing sambo Mixed martial artists utilizing ARB 21st-century Russian sportsmen