Abdulrashid Sadulaev

Abdulrashid Bulachevich Sadulaev (; born 9 May 1996) is a Russian freestyle wrestler who competes at 92 kilograms and formerly at 97 and 86 kilograms. Sadulaev is widely regarded as one of the most dominant active freestyle wrestlers in the world as well as one of the greatest freestyle wrestlers of all time. He is currently signed to an exclusive contract with Real American Freestyle (RAF).

Nicknamed the "Russian Tank," he is a two time Olympic gold medalist (2016, 2020), a six–time World Champion (2014, 2015, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2024), the Individual World Cup champion (2020), a five–time European Champion (2014, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2026), three-time Ivan Yarygin Grand Prix winner (2014, 2018, 2024), a two-time European Games Champion (2015, 2019) and also a two–time Cadet World Champion (2012, 2013). He is also a six-time Russian national champion. Sadulaev is one of two wrestlers to win world titles in three different weight classes.

Background and personal life Sadulaev was born in 1996 in the village of Tsurib, Charodinsky District, Dagestan, Russia. In 2016, he described himself as a devout Muslim, said he began wrestling seriously at age 13, and recalled winning a district title with a 300-ruble prize. He is the youngest of four siblings. He also stated that he does not have a Twitter account and uses Instagram, saying that accounts on Twitter using his identity are fake. After finishing 11th grade, he began training and won his first Cadet World Championship at age 16.

Career

2012-14: World Champion, European Champion Sadulaev's senior level debut was at the 2012 XLIII Ali Aliyev Memorial when he was 16 years old. He was defeated in the semifinals by Shamil Kudiyamagomedov, but ended up winning bronze. At the 2013 Memorial Heydar Aliyev, he lost by technical fall to Gamzat Osmanov. At the 2014 Russian National Championships, Sadulaev defeated Kudiyamagomedov and won his first national title. After the Russian Nationals, he participated at the 2014 World Wrestling Championships, where Sadulaev defeated Reineris Salas of Cuba 11–0 by technical fall.

2015: World Champion On 8 May 2015, Sadulaev won the Russian Freestyle Wrestling Nationals again and took part in the European Games in Baku, Azerbaijan, and World Championships in Las Vegas, Nevada. In the Games he outscored four opponents 42–1 (4–0) by technical fall and won gold medal. On 11 September 2015, he won World Championships, in the final knocking down Koloi Kartoev (Selim Yaşar) of Turkey, overall scoring 47–2 (6–0) in the championships. As a result, he was given a Mercedes-Benz G-Class G63 and Toyota Land Cruiser 200 by Dagestani business magnate Gadzhiev brothers and Ziyavudin Magomedov.

Sadulaev faced on 7 November wrestlers from Belarus, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Poland at the European Nations Cup (Alrosa Cup). He beat number one Georgian wrestler Elizbar Odikadze via technical fall (11–0).

2016: Olympic Champion On 29 January, Sadulaev was expected to participate at the international tournament Golden Grand-Prix Ivan Yarygin 2016, but he pulled out in late January citing a minor shoulder injury.

Sadulaev returned to wrestling in the U23 European Championships in Ruse, Bulgaria on 3 April, and then he participated at the Wenceslas Ziolkowski Memorial XXV on 18 June 2016. At the European Championships he defeated Stefan Reichmuth of Switzerland in the eightfinals, Hungarian Gergely Gyrits in the quarterfinals, Belarusian Aliaksandr Hushtyn in the semifinals and finally Georgian Irakli Mtsituri; all victories were by technical superiority. On 18 June, Sadulaev won the Wenceslas Ziolkowski Memorial LII, beating Aleksey Mushtin, teammate Omargadzhi Magomedov, István Veréb of Hungary, Sebastian Jezierzanski and Zbigniew Baranowski, both from Poland, by technical superiority.

Sadulaev competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics without Russian Olympic Trials, that news was announced by the head coach of the Russian freestyle wrestling team Dzhambolat Tedeyev. Sadualev beat István Veréb by technical superiority, then Pedro Ceballos of Venezuela by points, fellow countryman Sharif Sharifov of Azerbaijan and in the gold medal match Selim Yasar, 5–0.

After Sadulaev's return to Russia, he was greeted by a rowdy welcome victory in Moscow. The Olympic athletes were also given a reception of the Russian medalists in the Kremlin, with the traditional ceremonial meeting being presided by President Vladimir Putin. The champions received BMW luxury crossovers, with the BMW X6 luxury crossovers being awarded for the gold medalists. As a result, Ingushetian president Yunus-bek Yevkurov bestowed him a Toyota Land Cruiser 200.

At the World Championships, Sadulaev participated in the 97 kg weight category. En route he defeated Reineris Salas, Mateusz Filipczak, Elizbar Odikadze and Georgy Ketoyev. In the final he lost to Kyle Snyder in a close match.

2018: World Champion, rematch against Snyder After that he debuted in the weight category 92 kg at the Golden Grand Prix Ivan Yarygin 2018. In the final match, he beat 2012 Olympian and countryman Anzor Urishev.

On 3 August 2018, Sadulaev won his fourth national title at the Russian Nationals, knocking down Vladislav Baitcaev for gold by score (8–1).

Sadulaev was chosen to represent Russia in his weight class for the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, facing countrymen Magomedgadzhi Nurov, Mamed Ibragimov, Magomed Ibragimov, who he all beat by technical fall. In the semi-final he defeated Elizbar Odikadze from Georgia, and in the final in a rematch he faced American Kyle Snyder, finishing him by pin fall.

2019: European Games gold medalist and World Championships Sadulaev won European Games in Minsk, Belarus where he didn't give up a single point. After made world team trials, he repeated the success of last year at the world championships in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, in the final match he beat Azerbaijan's Sharif Sharifov by score (4–0). The rematch against USA's Kyle Snyder did not take place due to the loss of the American to Sharif Sharifov in the semifinals.

2020

Due to the pandemic, the 2020 World Wrestling Championships were canceled, and the Individual Wrestling World Cup was created as a placeholder. However, major wrestling nations like America and Japan did not participate due to restrictions. In 2020, he won the gold medal in the men's 97 kg event at the 2020 Individual Wrestling World Cup held in Belgrade, Serbia.

2021 Sadulaev clinched gold at the 2020 Summer Olympics by defeating his rival Snyder in the final. For that achievement, a member of the Russian State Duma rewarded him with a $1 million. Sadulaev once again defeated his rival Snyder to claim gold at the 2021 World Wrestling Championships.

2022 On 15 October 2022, Sadulaev faced Belarusian Aliaksandr Hushtyn at Poddubny wrestling league 2. He won this match by score (7–0). In 2022, Russian athletes were banned by the United World Wrestling Federation from competing. This led to Sadulaev being banned from the 2022 World Wrestling Championships in which he was considered by many to be the heavy favorite. Sadulaev's rival, Kyle Snyder, would go on to win the competition.

2023 On 18 September 2023, he competed at the 2023 World Championships held in Belgrade, Serbia. In the quarterfinals, he got a neck injury against his opponent Akhmed Tazhudinov of Bahrain and retired from the championships, being down 2–9 prior to retirement. It was only Sadulaev's fourth loss at the senior level, and the first since his loss in the final of the 2017 World Championships to Snyder.

2024 On 28 January 2024, Sadulaev won the Ivan Yarygin cup held in Krasnoyarsk, Russia. A few months later, he won the Russian Nationals for a sixth time at 97 kg. After he was barred from competing at the 2024 Olympics, Sadulaev defeated the 92 kg Russian Nationals champion Alan Bagaev in a special wrestle-off to qualify for the 2024 World Wrestling Championships. There, he won his 6th world title at 92 kilos, defeating World and Olympic champion David Taylor 7-0 and World champion Kamran Ghasempour 5–3. With this victory, he became the second wrestler in history to win world titles in three different weight classes.

2026: Real American Freestyle Sadulaev signed an exclusive contract with Real American Freestyle (RAF) on 15 January 2026.

He challenged Kyle Snyder for the RAF Light Heavyweight Championship in the co-main event of RAF Georgia on 11 July 2026. He lost via pin and suffered a knee injury.

Championships and accomplishments 2012 Cadet World Champion – 76 kg 2012 Ali Aliyev Memorial Bronze Medalist – 84 kg 2013 Cadet World Champion – 85 kg 2013 Heydar Aliyev Memorial Bronze Medalist – 84 kg 2014 Golden Grand Prix Ivan Yarygin – 86 kg 2014 Golden Grand-Prix Yaşar Doğu – 86 kg 2014, 2015 Russian National Freestyle Wrestling Champion – 86 kg 2014 European Champion – 86 kg 2014 Wenceslas Ziolkowski Memorial XXIII – 86 kg 2014 World Champion – 86 kg 2015 Alexander Medved International – 86 kg 2015 European Games – 86 kg 2015 World Champion – 86 kg 2015 European Nations Cup (Moscow Lights-Alrosa Cup) – 97 kg 2016 European Championships U23 – 86 kg 2016 Wenceslas Ziolkowski Memorial LII – 86 kg 2016 Summer Olympics – 86 kg 2017 Russian National Freestyle Wrestling Champion – 97 kg 2017 World Championships Silver Medalist – 97 kg 2018 Golden Grand-Prix Ivan Yarygin – 92 kg 2018 Dan Kolov & Nikola Petrov international – 92 kg 2018 World Champion – 97 kg 2019 European Champion – 97 kg 2019 European Games Champion – 97 kg 2019 World Champion – 97 kg 2020 European Champion – 97 kg 2020 Russian National Freestyle Wrestling Champion – 97 kg 2020 Summer Olympics – 97 kg 2021 World Champion – 97 kg 2024 Golden Grand Prix Ivan Yarygin – 97 kg 2024 World Champion – 92 kg 2026 European Champion – 97 kg

Freestyle wrestling record Res. Record Opponent Score Date Event Location

Loss 160–6

Win 160–5

Win 159–3

Win 158–3

Win 157–3

Win 156–3

Win 155–3

Win 154–3

Win 153–3

Win 152–3

Win 151–3

Loss 150-3

Loss 150-3

Loss 150–3

Win 150–2

Win 149–2

Win 148–2

Win 147–2

Win 146–2

Win 145–2

Win 144–2

Win 143–2

Win 142–2

Win 141–2

Win 140–2

Win 139–2

Win 138–2

Win 137–2

Win 136–2

Loss 135-2

Win 135–2

Win 134–2

Win 133–2

Win 132–2

Win 131–2

Win 130–2

Win 129–2

Win 128–2

Win 127–2

Win 126–2

Win 125–2

Win 124–2

Win 123–2

Win 122–2

Win 121–2

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Win 118–2

Win 117–2

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Win 115–2

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Win 111–2

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Win 109–2

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Win 106–2

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Win 104–2

Win 103–2

Win 102–2

Win 101–2

Win 100–2

Win 99–2

Win 98–2

Win 97–2

Win 96–2

Win 95–2

Win 94–2

Win 93–2

Win 92–2

Win 91–2

Win 90–2

Win 89–2

Win 88–2

Win 87–2

Win 86–2

Win 85–2

Win 84–2

Loss 83–2

Win 83–1

Win 82–1

Win 81–1

Win 80–1

Win 79–1

Win 78–1

Win 77–1

Win 76–1

Win 75–1

Win 74–1

Win 73–1

Win 72–1

Win 71–1

Win 70–1

Win 69–1

Win 68–1

Win 67–1

Win 66–1

Win 65–1

Win 64–1

Win 63–1

Win 62–1

Win 61–1

Win 60–1

Win 59–1

Win 58–1

Win 57–1

Win 56–1

Win 55–1

Win 54–1

Win 53–1

Win 52–1

Win 51–1

Win 50–1

Win 49–1

Win 48–1

Win 47–1

Win 46–1

Win 45–1

Win 44–1

Win 43–1

Win 42–1

Win 41–1

Win 40–1

Win 39–1

Win 38–1

Win 37–1

Win 36–1

Win 35–1

Win 34–1

Win 33–1

Win 32–1

Win 31–1

Win 30–1

Win 29–1

Win 28–1

Win 27–1

Win 26–1

Win 25–1

Win 24–1

Win 23–1

Win 22–1

Win 21–1

Win 20–1

Win 19–1

Win 18–1

Win 17–1

Win 16–1

Win 15–1

Win 14–1

Win 13–1

Win 12–1

Win 11–1

Win 10–1

Win 9–1

Loss 8–1

Win 8–0

Win 7–0

Win 6–0

Win 5–0

Win 4–0

Win 3–0

Win 2–0

Win 1–0

Awards

Order of Honour (11 September 2021) Master of Sports of International Class (25 March 2019) Hero of Dagestan (18 November 2018) Master of Sports (17 October 2016) Order of Friendship (25 August 2016) Order of Merit for the Republic of Dagestan (26 August 2016) Order of Honour "Al-Fakhr" (26 August 2016) Merited Master of Sports (11 April 2016) Master of Sports of International Class (5 August 2015) Master of Sports of International Class (18 September 2014) In June 2015, Sadulaev was voted best Russian sportsman of June at the TV project "Golden Pedestal" (on the now-defunct Rossiya 2), earning 55.6% of votes and trumping Aliya Mustafina, who got 44.4% of votes.