Russian athlete Sharapudin Magomedov completed a successful professional MMA debut in February, three months removed from his gold medal triumph at the 2018 IMMAF-WMMAA Amateur World Championships.
Bantamweight competitor Magomedov secured a first round rear-naked-choke submission as the 24-year-old wrestling specialist featured on the card of Battle of Volga 9 in Moscow on February 11.
“I was looking forward to this debut,” Magomedov stated. “Pro is easier than amateur because you have 1-2 months to prepare for the specific opponent, whereas in amateur it’s numerous fights against unknown opponents.” (Russian speaking interview below.)
Having previously earned silver in the Russian MMA Union National Championships, and gold at the WMMAA European Championships, his amateur tenure culminated as the Dagestan native defeated four opponents in as many days to claim the IMMAF-WMMAA unified amateur bantamweight world title.
The overwhelming success of the Russian national team smashed IMMAF records at the first Unified World Championships.
Surpassing all comers via unanimous decision, Magomedov kicked off his world championships campaign by upsetting the momentum of Sweden’s Jonny Touma before besting rivals from Brazil and Bahrain, including Carlos Veras and Hamza Zrira, plus subsequent world silver medalist, Magomed Idrisov.
