# Omari Akhmedov

Omari Sirazhudinovich Akhmedov (born October 12, 1987) is a Russian professional mixed martial artist who currently competes in the Light Heavyweight division. He previously fought in the Ultimate Fighting Championship and Professional Fighters League (PFL).

## Background

Akhmedov was born on October 12, 1987, in the town of Kizlyar in modern-day Dagestan, Russia, in a Lak family and is a devout Sunni Muslim. Like many children in Dagestan, Akhmedov engaged in freestyle wrestling 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 Ultimate Fighting Championship 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.
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. 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 Santosi 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. 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. 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 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.

## Championships and awards
### Mixed martial arts

* Ultimate Fighting Championship
** Fight of the Night (Two times) vs. Thiago Perpétuo and Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos

### 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

Professional record breakdown :
| 33 matches | 24 wins | 8 losses |
| By knockout | 8 | 4 |
| By submission | 7 | 2 |
| By decision | 9 | 2 |
| Draws | 1 | 1 |
| Res. | Record | Opponent | Method | Event | Date | Round | Time | Location | Notes |
| Loss | 24–8–1 | Rob Wilkinson | TKO (doctor stoppage) | PFL 10 (2022) | November 25, 2022 | 2 | 5:00 | New York City, New York, United States | 2022 PFL Light Heavyweight Tournament Final. |
| Win | 24–7–1 | Josh Silveira | Decision (unanimous) | PFL 7 (2022) | August 5, 2022 | 3 | 5:00 | New York City, New York, United States | 2022 PFL Light Heavyweight Tournament Semifinal. |
| Win | 23–7–1 | Teodoras Aukštuolis | Technical Submission (arm-triangle choke) | PFL 4 (2022) | June 17, 2022 | 2 | 2:50 | Atlanta, Georgia, United States | |
| Win | 22–7–1 | Viktor Pešta | KO (punches) | PFL 1 (2022) | April 20, 2022 | 1 | 1:25 | Arlington, Texas, United States | |
| Loss | 21–7–1 | Jordan Young | TKO (punches) | PFL 10 (2021) | October 27, 2021 | 3 | 1:32 | Hollywood, Florida, United States | Return to Light Heavyweight. |
| Loss | 21–6–1 | Brad Tavares | Decision (split) | UFC 264 | July 10, 2021 | 3 | 5:00 | Las Vegas, Nevada, United States | |
| Win | 21–5–1 | Tom Breese | Submission (arm-triangle choke) | UFC on ESPN: Chiesa vs. Magny | January 20, 2021 | 2 | 1:41 | Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates | |
| Loss | 20–5–1 | Chris Weidman | Decision (unanimous) | UFC Fight Night: Lewis vs. Oleinik | August 8, 2020 | 3 | 5:00 | Las Vegas, Nevada, United States | |
| Win | 20–4–1 | Ian Heinisch | Decision (unanimous) | UFC 245 | December 14, 2019 | 3 | 5:00 | Las Vegas, Nevada, United States | |
| Win | 19–4–1 | Zak Cummings | Decision (unanimous) | UFC 242 | September 7, 2019 | 3 | 5:00 | Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates | |
| Win | 18–4–1 | Tim Boetsch | Decision (unanimous) | UFC Fight Night: Lewis vs. dos Santos | March 9, 2019 | 3 | 5:00 | Wichita, Kansas, United States | |
| Draw | 17–4–1 | Marvin Vettori | Draw (majority) | UFC 219 | December 30, 2017 | 3 | 5:00 | Las Vegas, Nevada, United States | Return to Middleweight. |
| Win | 17–4 | Abdul Razak Alhassan | Decision (split) | UFC Fight Night: Gustafsson vs. Teixeira | May 28, 2017 | 3 | 5:00 | Stockholm, Sweden | |
| Win | 16–4 | Kyle Noke | Decision (unanimous) | UFC Fight Night: Whittaker vs. Brunson | November 27, 2016 | 3 | 5:00 | Melbourne, Australia | |
| Loss | 15–4 | Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos | TKO (punches and knees) | UFC on Fox: Teixeira vs. Evans | April 16, 2016 | 3 | 3:03 | Tampa, Florida, United States | Fight of the Night. |
| Loss | 15–3 | Sérgio Moraes | TKO (punches) | UFC Fight Night: Namajunas vs. VanZant | December 10, 2015 | 3 | 2:18 | Las Vegas, Nevada, United States | |
| Win | 15–2 | Brian Ebersole | TKO (knee injury) | UFC Fight Night: Boetsch vs. Henderson | June 6, 2015 | 1 | 5:00 | New Orleans, Louisiana, United States | |
| Win | 14–2 | Mats Nilsson | Decision (unanimous) | UFC 182 | January 3, 2015 | 3 | 5:00 | Las Vegas, Nevada, United States | |
| Loss | 13–2 | Gunnar Nelson | Submission (guillotine choke) | UFC Fight Night: Gustafsson vs. Manuwa | March 8, 2014 | 1 | 4:36 | London, England | Welterweight debut. |
| Win | 13–1 | Thiago Perpétuo | KO (punches) | UFC Fight Night: Belfort vs. Henderson 2 | November 9, 2013 | 1 | 3:31 | Goiânia, Brazil | Fight of the Night. |
| Win | 12–1 | Fabricio Nascimento | Submission (guillotine choke) | North Landing Cup 2013 | May 13, 2013 | 1 | 0:53 | Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia | |
| Win | 11–1 | Rafal Haratyk | KO (punch) | Tech-Krep FC: Battle of Stars 1 | December 22, 2012 | 1 | 2:26 | Makhachkala, Russia | |
| Win | 10–1 | Sergey Karpov | Submission (guillotine choke) | Universal Fighter: Colosseum Battles Champions 1 | October 21, 2012 | 1 | 4:58 | Ufa, Russia | |
| Win | 9–1 | Aleksander Boyko | Submission (triangle choke) | Grand European FC: Odesa Golden Cup | May 9, 2012 | 1 | 1:02 | Odesa, Ukraine | |
| Win | 8–1 | Aliyor Isakov | TKO (punches) | Governor's Cup of Saint Petersburg 2012 | April 12, 2012 | 1 | 3:05 | Saint Petersburg, Russia | Won the 2012 Governor's Cup Middleweight Tournament. |
| Win | 7–1 | Talekh Nazhav-Zade | TKO (punches) | Governor's Cup of Saint Petersburg 2012 | April 12, 2012 | 1 | 0:20 | Saint Petersburg, Russia | 2012 Governor's Cup Middleweight Tournament Semifinal. |
| Win | 6–1 | Akbar Nabavizade | TKO (punches) | Governor's Cup of Saint Petersburg 2012 | April 12, 2012 | 1 | 2:30 | Saint Petersburg, Russia | Return to Middleweight. 2012 Governor's Cup Middleweight Tournament Quarterfinal. |
| Win | 5–1 | Mikhail Istomin | Submission (armbar) | ProFC 34: Global Grand Prix 3 | October 1, 2011 | 1 | 1:22 | Volgograd, Russia | Won the 2010 ProFC Light Heavyweight Tournament. |
| Win | 4–1 | Vladimir Semenov | Decision (split) | ProFC 34: Global Grand Prix 3 | October 1, 2011 | 2 | 5:00 | Volgograd, Russia | Light Heavyweight debut. 2010 ProFC Light Heavyweight Tournament Semifinal. |
| Win | 3–1 | Musa Arslangadzhiev | TKO (punches) | Urkarakh Fights 2011 | July 22, 2010 | 1 | 3:50 | Urkarakh, Russia | |
| Loss | 2–1 | Michail Tsarev | Submission (guillotine choke) | ProFC 21: Russia Cup Stage 2 | November 28, 2010 | 2 | 4:29 | Ufa, Russia | |
| Win | 2–0 | Magomed Umarov | Decision (unanimous) | Legion Fight: Black Sea Cup 2010 (Stage 2) | July 9, 2010 | 2 | 5:00 | Anapa, Russia | |
| Win | 1–0 | Ishkhan Zakharian | Submission (rear-naked choke) | ProFC: Fight Night 2 | January 30, 2010 | 1 | 3:40 | Rostov-on-Don, Russia | Middleweight debut. |