Abdul-Aziz Abdulvakhabov

Abdul-Aziz Abdulvakhabov (born January 16, 1989) is a Russian mixed martial artist who competes in the Lightweight division of the Absolute Championship Akhmat (ACA), where he is the current ACA Lightweight Champion. Abdulvakhabov has reached #15 in World Lightweight rankings according to Fight Matrix.

Background The fighter was born in the village of Sernovodsky, the administrative center of the Sernovodsky district, located in the west of the Chechen Republic. From the age of 7 years, he began to get involved in sports. As a child, little Aziz was fond of football - like the rest of the rural boys, he played the ball with pleasure. The desire to become a wrestler appeared in Abdulvakhabov in his teens. An older brother played a big role in this, who taught the younger ones to play sports and box. At that time, hostilities were taking place in Chechnya, therefore, despite the desire of Abdul-Aziz to engage in wrestling, he did not have the opportunity for this.

Abdul-Aziz decided to get an education in Moscow, where he moved at the age of 17. Abdulvakhabov entered the Faculty of Law and combined his studies with training in freestyle wrestling. A year later, Abdul-Aziz, following the advice of his brother, began to engage in hand-to-hand combat. A month later, the coach put the young athlete to the championship of the Moscow region, where the Chechen won. After spending 2 years on the mats, the fighter met Akhmed Musaev, from whom he received and accepted an offer to start practicing hand-to-hand combat and combat sambo.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career A year and a half after the start of training with a new coach, Abdul-Aziz began his journey in mixed martial arts with a one-day tournament from the ProFC organization, where he beat Salim Kaslukov, but in the second fight he was defeated by unanimous decision from Magomed Alkhasov, who was more experienced at that time. Upon his return to canvas, he began to actively close this defeat and, under the sign of various promotions, winning 3 victories in 2 months, after which he took a break for a year and a half. After 2 more victories, and then completely signed up for the ACB organization. After that, Abdul-Aziz took a break for a year to improve his health and rehabilitate.

The return of the athlete was bright - a victory over Vadim Rasul at ACB 17. The next to fall were Zulfikar Usmanov at ACB 22 and Julio Cesar De Almeida at ACB 27. These fights were not title fights, so Aziz still had the belt.

The first defense of the champion title in the lightweight category took place in Moscow at ACB 32. The rival of the Chechen was Eduard Vartanyan, who he defeated via TKO stoppage in the first round.

In 2016, within the framework of ACB 48, Abdul-Aziz rematched Ali Bagov. From the first minutes of the fight, Ali was in the lead, but he did not go to the second round for health reasons. During this fight, Aziz's old injury also made itself felt. The fighter's knee was operated on, and for a long time he was in rehabilitation.

A year later, the main event of ACB 77 was the fight between Abdulvakhabov and Eduard Vartanyan. For the first time in Aziz's career, an exhausting duel lasted all the prescribed five rounds. The victory was awarded to the defending champion, and he retained the title.

The following year, Abdul-Azis was booked to face Marcin Held at ACA 92, but he was replaced by Brian Foster, who was submitted via arm-trainle choke in the first round, and then Imanali Gamzatkhanov at ACA 99, who followed in the footsteps of the American, being submitted via rear-naked choke in the second round.

In 2020, Abdulvakhabov got a chance to reclaim the title against Alexander Sarnavsky at the ACA 111, which the Chechen won via unanimous decision to win the bout and regain the belt.

Abdulvakhabov defended his title against former UFC veteran Hacran Dias on November 5, 2021, at ACA 131: Abdulvakhabov vs. Dias. He won the close bout via split decision.

An ACA Lightweight Championship unification bout between Abdulvakhabov and interim champion Mukhamed Kokov at ACA 162. However, for health reasons the bout was postponed to ACA 164 on October 4.

The bout against Kokov was rescheduled for ACA 164: Abdulvakhabov vs. Kokov on October 4, 2023 as part of the 2023 ACA Lightweight Grand Prix Quarterfinal. Abdulvakhabov unified the title and advanced to the semi-finals, stopping Kokov in the second round after dropping Kokov with an elbow against the fence and then winning by ground and pound TKO.

Championships and accomplishments

Mixed martial arts

Absolute Championship Akhmat ACA Lightweight Championship (Two Times, current) Five successful title defenses (overall) Three successful title defenses (first reign) Two successful title defenses (second reign)

Mixed martial arts record Win

Ali Bagov KO (punch) ACA 189

Grozny, Russia Win

Ali Abdulkhalikov Decision (split) ACA 182

Moscow, Russia Win

Mukhamed Kokov TKO (punches) ACA 164

Grozny, Russia Win

Hacran Dias Decision (split) ACA 131

Moscow, Russia Win

Alexander Sarnavskiy Decision (unanimous) ACA 111

Moscow, Russia Win

Imanali Gamzatkhanov Submission (rear-naked choke) ACA 99

Moscow, Russia Win

Brian Foster Submission (arm-triangle choke) ACA 92

Warsaw, Poland Loss

Ali Bagov Decision (majority) ACB 89

Krasnodar, Russia Win

Eduard Vartanyan Decision (split) ACB 77

Moscow, Russia Win

Ali Bagov TKO (retirement) ACB 48

Moscow, Russia Win

Eduard Vartanyan TKO (punches) ACB 32

Moscow, Russia Win

Julio Cesar de Almeida KO (punch) ACB 27

Dushanbe, Tajikistan Win

Zulfikar Usmanov TKO (doctor stoppage) ACB 22

Saint Petersburg, Russia Win

Vadim Russul Submission (rear-naked choke) ACB 17

Tolstoy-Yurt, Russia Win

Ali Bagov KO (spinning back kick) ACB 9

Grozny, Russia Win

Rasul Ediev Submission (guillotine choke) ACB 7

Grozny, Russia Win

Islam Makoev Decision (unanimous) ACB 5

Grozny, Russia Win

Aktilek Zhumabek Decision (unanimous) Alash Pride: Great Battle 2

Almaty, Kazakhstan Win

Garik Aivazyan Submission (anaconda choke) Fight Nights Global 18

Grozny, Russia Win

Sergei Bal Submission (arm-triangle choke) Deadly Bet 2012

Moscow, Russia Win

Andrey Markovich Decision (unanimous) S-70: Russian Grand Prix 2011 (Stage 3)

Moscow, Russia Win

Ilya Gomelyuk TKO (punches) Corona Cup 22

Moscow, Russia Loss

Magomed Alkhasov Decision (unanimous)

Win

Salim Kaskulov TKO (punches)