Ruslan Gadzhimagomedovich Magomedov (; born 26 November 1986) is a Russian former

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 competed in the

Heavyweight Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Male boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 2 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation an ...

division. Magomedov was the first UFC fighter to receive lifetime ban from USADA after sustaining his third anti-doping violation in February 2019. He is ranked #8 in the ACA heavyweight rankings.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Magomedov was born 26 November 1986 in Tsudakhar, Levashinsky District, Dagestan ASSR, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union. He is an ethnic Dargin and 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 ...

. At the age of eight he began to train in

Karate (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ), also , is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tī'' in Okinawan) un ...

Amateur boxing Amateur boxing is the variant of boxing practiced in clubs and associations around the world, at the Olympic Games, Pan American Games and Commonwealth Games, as well as at the varsity sports, collegiate level. Amateur boxing bouts comprise three ...

and

Muay Thai Muay Thai or Muaythai (, , ), sometimes referred to as Thai boxing, the Art of Eight Limbs or the Science of Eight Limbs, is a Thai martial art and full-contact combat sport that uses stand-up striking, sweeps, and various clinch fighting, cl ...

under Igor Ivanov. After higher school, he joined the Russian Army

Strategic Missile Troops The Strategic Rocket Forces of the Russian Federation or the Strategic Missile Forces of the Russian Federation (RVSN RF; ) is a separate combat arm of the Russian Armed Forces that controls Russia's land-based intercontinental ballistic miss ...

Yekaterinburg Yekaterinburg (, ; ), alternatively Romanization of Russian, romanized as Ekaterinburg and formerly known as Sverdlovsk ( ; 1924–1991), is a city and the administrative centre of Sverdlovsk Oblast and the Ural Federal District, Russia. The ci ...

and

Irkutsk Irkutsk ( ; rus, Иркутск, p=ɪrˈkutsk; Buryat language, Buryat and , ''Erhüü'', ) is the largest city and administrative center of Irkutsk Oblast, Russia. With a population of 587,891 Irkutsk is the List of cities and towns in Russ ...

, in the army he won national Army hand-to-hand fight championships, he is Second lieutenant, after the army he started MMA. Magomedov made his professional MMA debut in November 2008 and went 9-1 in his first 10 fights. Ruslan trains in Russian MMA Academy. He sparred with Olympic

Wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...

Champions from the Dagestan Republic. Ruslan has shown good

boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...

technique, as he has four victories coming by way of knockout. He defeated former UFC Heavyweight Champion

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, ...

via unanimous decision at United Glory 15.

Bellator MMA

In April 2012, Ruslan signed a contract with Bellator Fighting Championships. Magomedov was expected to compete in the Bellator season seven heavyweight tournament, and was expected to face Brett Rogers in the quarterfinals at Bellator 75. However, Magomedov was forced out of the bout with a visa problems and replaced by Alexander Volkov.

Fight Nights MMA

Magomedov faced

Strikeforce Strike Force may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Games *Strike Force (video game), ''Strike Force'' (video game), a 1991 arcade game *''Commandos: Strike Force'', a 2006 video game *''Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce'', a 2009 video game *' ...

veteran and

Cage Warriors Cage Warriors (CW) is an Irish-owned mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in London, England. The promotion was established in 2001 and staged its first MMA event in London in July, 2002. Many MMA stars have made their names under ...

Heavyweight Champion Mike Hayes on 23 February 2013 on Fight Nights: Battle of Moscow 10. He won via unanimous decision. Magomedov faced former UFC Heavyweight Champion Tim Sylvia on 27 October 2013 on Fight Nights: Battle of Moscow 13. He won the fight via unanimous decision.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

In February 2014, Magomedov signed a contract with the UFC to fight in their

division. Magomedov made his UFC debut against fellow newcomer Viktor Pešta on 31 May 2014 at UFC Fight Night 41. By this time, Magomedov was splitting his training between the MMA Academy in Russia and Jackson/Winklejohn MMA in

Albuquerque Albuquerque ( ; ), also known as ABQ, Burque, the Duke City, and in the past 'the Q', is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Bernalillo County, New Mexico, Bernal ...

, USA. He won the fight by unanimous decision. Magomedov was briefly linked to a bout with Ben Rothwell for on 30 August 2014 at UFC 177. However, on 9 July, the UFC announced Rothwell would be facing

Alistair Overeem Alistair Cees Overeem (born 17 May 1980) is a Dutch former professional mixed martial artist and kickboxer. He is a former Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion, Dream Heavyweight Champion, K-1 World Grand Prix Champion, and was the first fight ...

on 5 September 2014 at UFC Fight Night 50. Magomedov eventually was linked to a bout with Richard Odoms on the same card. However, on 14 August, it was announced that the bout would be scrapped due to an injury from Odoms. Magomedov faced Josh Copeland on 22 November 2014 at UFC Fight Night 57. He won the fight via unanimous decision. Magomedov faced Shawn Jordan on 3 October 2015 at UFC 192. He won via unanimous decision. Magomedov was expected to face Gabriel Gonzaga on 10 April 2016 at UFC Fight Night 86. However, Magomedov was forced from the bout in early March due to injury and replaced by Derrick Lewis. Magomedov was expected to face Stefan Struve on 8 October 2016 at UFC 204, but had to pull out with injury. On 26 September 2016 Magomedov was suspended by USADA, the administrator of the UFC anti-doping program following a potential Anti-Doping Policy violation stemming from an out-of-competition sample collection made on 7 September 2016 In February 2018, it was announced that Magomedov had received a two years USADA suspension after testing positive for ostarine in relation to a sample collected in 29 October 2016. In addition, Magomedov along with teammate Zubaira Tukhugov agreed to pay a total of 10,000 US Dollars towards arbitration costs. Magomedov was scheduled to face Marcos Rogerio de Lima on 3 November 2018 at UFC 230. However, it was reported on 24 October 2018 that he pulled out from the event due to visa issues and he was replaced by Adam Wieczorek. In April 2019, Magomedov received a lifetime ban from USADA after sustaining his second and third violations under the policy. Magomedov tested positive for two

anabolic steroids Anabolic steroids, also known as anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS), are a class of drugs that are structurally related to testosterone, the main male sex hormone, and produce effects by binding to the androgen receptor (AR). Anabolic steroids ...

in October 2018 and then in February 2019 refused to complete the sample collection process as requested by a doping control officer during an out-of-competition test session.

Post-UFC career

After the ban, Magomedov signed with the

Absolute Championship Akhmat Absolute Championship Akhmat (ACA), formerly known as Absolute Championship Berkut (ACB), is a Chechen mixed martial arts, kickboxing and Brazilian jiu-jitsu organization and one of the leading promotions in Europe. To date, most events have been h ...

. He made his promotional debut against Daniel James at ACA 101: Strus vs. Nemchinov on 15 November 2019. He won the fight via unanimous decision. He made his sophomore appearance against Dmitry Poberezhets at ACA 115: Magomed Ismailov vs. Shtyrkov on 12 December 2020. He was knocked out cold in the third round. Magomedov faced Denis Smoldarev on 16 July 2021 at ACA 126: Magomedov vs. Egemberdiev. He lost the bout via split decision.

Mixed martial arts record

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Sochi Sochi ( rus, Сочи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg, from – ''seaside'') is the largest Resort town, resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi (river), Sochi River, along the Black Sea in the North Caucasus of Souther ...

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Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

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Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

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Filmography

References

External links

Official UFC Profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Magomedov, Ruslan 1986 births Living people Russian male mixed martial artists Heavyweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing Muay Thai Mixed martial artists utilizing karate Mixed martial artists utilizing boxing Mixed martial artists utilizing wrestling Mixed martial artists utilizing ARB Doping cases in mixed martial arts Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters Russian male Muay Thai practitioners Russian male karateka Martial artists from Makhachkala 21st-century Russian sportsmen Russian expatriates in the United States Russian Sunni Muslims Dargwa people