An interesting new challenger has joined the UFC's heavyweight division: Russian Olympic heavyweight wrestler Bilyal Makhov. The news was announced on Instagram by Makhov's gym and training partner.
While the name may not ring a bell for MMA fans, Makhov is a highly accomplished wrestler. Makhov has medaled at the FILA world championships in freestyle wrestling on four separate occasions, taking gold in 2007, 2009 and 2010 and silver in 2011 before winning the bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympic Games. As if that wasn't impressive enough, he most recently won bronze at the 2014 FILA world championships in Greco-Roman wrestling.
His wrestling career has almost entirely taken place in the 120-kilogram weight class (264 pounds), meaning he will be a huge heavyweight in MMA.
Brigitte Narcise chimed in on Twitter:
Makhov lived and breathed the sport during his childhood, moving from his hometown of Nalchik to Dagestan to train in wrestling. While Makhov stated that he wanted to make a run for the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in an interview with John Morgan of MMAJunkie.com, he is likely all-in on MMA with this signing.
That said, Makhov has never competed in an MMA bout before, be it professional or amateur. However, it is easy to predict at least a fair degree of success based on his wrestling credentials alone, as we have seen fighters like Joe Warren and Ben Askren successfully transition directly from the mats to the cage. Makhov is currently training at the K Dojo Warrior Tribe gym in New Jersey alongside fellow Russian UFC fighters Albert Tumenov and Alexander Yakovlev.
The UFC has yet to announce any details regarding his debut, so we don't know when or where we may see Makhov fight.
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