Magomed Magomedkerimov

Magomed Magomedkerimov (Магомед Магомедкеримов; born 1 October 1990) is a Russian professional mixed martial artist.

He currently competes in the Welterweight division of Professional Fighters League (PFL).

Magomed was born in the small Dagestan village of Agvali, with a population of just over 2,000 people.

He lived there while he was at school, and trained, starting to study not only pankration and hand-to-hand combat, which are popular here, but also Muay Thai.

The guy showed excellent results, and therefore, by the time he graduated, he clearly understood that he wanted to connect his life with sports.

At the age of 17, he moved to Makhachkala, entered the Dagestan GPU at the "Sports and Coaching" Faculty.

And from the next year, he began to conquer various venues, including the world championships.

In 2007, he entered the State Pedagogical University at the Faculty of Sports and Coaching.

Thanks to the base in pankration and shock disciplines, since the summer of 2008, Magomedkerimov has launched his professional career in MMA, and at the same time travels to the world pankration championships, to Portugal and Bulgaria, the Russian hand-to-hand combat championship, as well as the Kudo and Muay Thai championships of Dagestan.

Magomed had his first professional fight against Vitaliy Kalynyuk at Trophy Feira 14, which took place on August 22, 2008, which he won via armbar in the first round.

Until 2010, he had 3 wins at the World Championships, one at Europe, the same number at the Eurasian Championship and several at Russian and Republican championships.

And in mixed martial arts, out of three fights, the fighter managed to get two victories.

His native language is Avar, but he is also fluent in Russian.

Two years later, in November 2010, Magomed fought Viktor Kuzmenko at M-1: Ukrainian Selection 2010 and won the fight with a rear naked choke.

Later that same month, at ProFC- Union Nation Cup 10, Magomed faced Taras Pikhnyuk but lost the bout via a heel hook submission.

In 2011 he graduated from DGPU.

Since 2011, Magomed began devoting all his attention to developing a career in MMA.

At first, he fought in local leagues, sometimes traveling outside the republic, and adding victories over Anatoly Tokov at League S-70: First Round, Gontarev Evgeny and others to his credit.

And when his record was 10 wins and only 3 losses, the leaders of Fight Nights drew attention to the fighter.

Having spent only one fight there against a little-known Brazilian, Magomedkerimov receives an invitation to the ACB, where he took part in the Grand Prix.

In the first round of the ACA Welterweight Grand Prix on March 9, 2014 at Absolute Championship Berkut - Grand Prix Berkut 2, Magomed faced Islam Yashaev, winning the bout 15 seconds into the bout due to doctor stoppage.

In the Quarter-Finals, he would face Ibrahim Tibilov at Absolute Championship Berkut - Grand Prix Berkut 5, winning via unanimous decision, then winning his semi-final bout at Absolute Championship Berkut - Grand Prix Berkut 7 against Danyar Babakulov, winning by a second round TKO stoppage.

In the finals, Magomed faced Beslan Isaev on June 22, 2014 at Absolute Championship Berkut - Grand Prix Berkut 9, losing the bout via split decision.

After leaving ACB having failed to win the Grand Prix, Magomedkerimov garnered a 3-1 record on the regional scene, winning two of those bouts by first round submission, with the only loss being to future ONE Middleweight World Champion Vitaly Bigdash at ProFC 57 on March 29, 2015, getting submitted in the third round via rear-naked choke.

At the end of 2016, he signs a contract with the WSOF.

However, having one performance there against Bobby Cooper, and winning by a split decision of the judges, WSOF starts having problems and the company is bought out by new owners who are in no hurry to renew the contract with Magomed.

Due to these delays, he was idle for almost 2 years, and as a result, he still got the opportunity to play in the league, only by that time it had been renamed the PFL.

Magomed made his PFL debut on July 5, 2018, at PFL 3 against Herman Terrado, choking out Terrado at the end of the first round via rear-naked choke.

In his sophomore performance on August 16, 2018, at PFL 6, Magomed faced Bojan Veličkovic, winning the bout via unanimous decision and securing a spot in the playoffs.

On October 20, 2018, Magomedkerimov faced Pavel Kusch at PFL 10.

He won the fight via unanimous decision to advance to the semifinals of the playoffs.

In the semifinals, Magomedkerimov defeated Bojan Veličkovic in a rematch via technical knockout in the second round to advance to the Welterweight finals.

Magomedkerimov faced Ray Cooper III in the finals at PFL 11 on December 31, 2018.

Magomed won the fight via a guillotine choke submission in the second round.

In the process, he won the 2018 PFL Welterweight Tournament and $1 million dollar prize.

To start off the 2019 season on May 9, 2019 at PFL 1, Magomed faced John Howard, winning the bout via guillotine choke at the end of the first round.

In the second regular season bout Magomedkerimov faced Chris Curtis at PFL 4 on July 11, 2019.

He wont the fight via unanimous decision and advanced to the playoffs.

In the quarterfinals Magomedkerimov faced Curtis in a rematch at PFL 7 on October 11, 2019.

Again he won the bout via unanimous decision, However, after their bout Magomedkerimov fell ill.