ASA Vice President Aslanbek Badaev told that the league could offer the Olympic freestyle wrestling champion a first MMA fight. Zaurbek Sidakov .
After Russian wrestlers were not allowed to participate in the 2024 Olympics in Paris, one of the leaders of the Russian national team, Zaurbek Sidakov, announced that he could compete in mixed martial arts. Sidakov is 28 years old, a three-time world champion and Tokyo Olympic champion in the under 74 kg category.
— You didn’t offer to fight Zaurbek Sidakov, an Olympic wrestling champion who wanted to switch to MMA?
— At the moment I was so busy with tournaments that I did not find time for a month to call Zaurbek and make him an offer. We are friends, he was on my podcast, but I cannot propose this solution alone. I need to consult with Mairbek Khasiev, Alexei Yatsenko and the rest of our team. I will present my point of view to them and I think we will make him an offer. It will be about specific figures both for the fee and for the number of fights. I will also make an offer to Magomedkhabib Kadimagomedov. We can even have an MMA fight between Sidakov and Kadimagomedov. It would be a nice event. And such a fight could take place in Dagestan and Ossetia.
I understand where Zaurbek is looking; his name and status will allow him to fight overseas. It is seen that they are communicating with Henry Cejudo, he met with his former rival Jordan Burrows. It is clear that this is an epic meeting for fans of the world of freestyle wrestling, but that’s it. But there may or may not be something. But here everything is real. Proposals, rivals, date. You come from Ossetia to Grozny, sign a contract, we do a photo shoot and leave happy. And it’s quite easy for him. Naturally, we would not throw him into the foyer, given the status of this fighter. We would give him interesting fights with a guy like Kadimagomedov or Murad Nukhkadiev (freestyle wrestlers who at different times talked about a possible transition to MMA – Note: ).
So, Zaurbek, we make you an offer: preliminary for now, but later there will be a more substantial proposal. By the way, today the former head coach of the Russian freestyle wrestling team Dzambolat Tedeev was present at the tournament. It was interesting to follow his train of thought. He is a good analyst, he watches the fights and immediately says: “Aslanbek, they advance one leg at a time and stay. Why don’t they improve it? And I told him that we have a unique opportunity to promote wrestlers in this way. My soul aches for freestyle wrestling, I love this sport very much, I have long thought about creating a wrestling department in the ASA,” Badaev told .
Live broadcasts of mixed martial arts tournaments can be seen on and Match! Fighter, as well as on the websites matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru.
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I am Ashley Ortiz and I am a professional journalist working for Athletistic. My specialty is in sports journalism, particularly boxing. I have written articles for some of the most renowned publications on the subject, and my work has been featured across both print and digital media platforms.
