Gadzhi Rabadanov

Rabadanov was born in the village of Makhachkala, in the Republic of Dagestan, Russia, on January 1,1993, of Dargin ethnicity.^[6] He currently resides in Chelyabinsk. In his childhood, he played football and was passionate about freestyle wrestling. Rabadanov eventually switched to combat samboat the age of 17 years old, where he came under the tutelage of Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov.^[3][7]

Following his graduation from high school, he combined his combat sambo training and study at the Russian Legal Academy. Rabadanov gave martial arts (Combat Sambo and MMA) his whole attention after his third year of college and began competing professionally in MMA. Ever since than he started doing professional MMA and grappling. He obtained a legal degree after graduating from the academy with honors. He is an amateur MMA champion of Russia in 2015.^[3][7]

In February 2013, Rabadanov made his professional MMA debut at the Octagon MMA Warriors 13 event, defeating fellow newbie Evgeniy Sokha with a kimura in the second round.^[8][9] He competed seven more times across local MMA promotions in Russia.^[10][11]

WMMAA Lightweight Champion

Rabadanov had a notable run at WMMAA World Championship at Prague, where he defeated current UFC fighters like Ľudovít Klein and Loik Radzhabov to become WMMAA Lightweight champion.^[12][13] It was in this tournament, where he became record holder for the fastest finish in amateur MMA history, with the record of defeating his opponent in 17 seconds in the very first round of the fight.^[3][4][5]

Return to Professional MMA

Rabadanov didn't actually compete for a major MMA organization until 2016, when he went into the Fight Nights Global promotion, for whom he successfully competed in six of their events.^[14][9][15]

Rabadanov also competed for notable MMA promotion, PFL in May 23, 2019, when he was pitted against former UFC fighter Steven "Super" Siler, which the Dagestani won via unanimous decision.^[16][17] He was unable to establish himself as regular fixture in PFL due to issues with weight cutting, so he opted to return to his homeland and resumed his career with the Russian MMA promotion Gorilla FC.^[9][18]

On February 9, 2020, Rabadanov and the Brazilian fighter, Joao Paulo de Moura e Silva were given the chance to compete for Gorilla Fighting Championships lightweight belt, after the original bout between Nurullo Aliev and Anvar Chergesov (original competitors for lightweight belt) was cancelled, at GFC 24 event, in which the Dagestani won the belt by defeating Brazilian via unanimous decision.^[19][20]

The Gorilla Fighting Championship was than bought by MMA superstar Khabib Nurmagomedov for a price of one million dollar, and than rebranded as Eagle Fighting Championship.^[21] Rabadanov who remained lightweight champion under the new organization, was booked to defend his title against French fighter of Chechen origin Mehdi Dakaev, at EFC 30, on December 4, 2020.^[22] Dakaev won the fight against Rabadanov via unanimous decision and ultimately becoming the new lightweight champion.^[23]

In Rabadanov second fight for Eagle Fighting Championship, he was booked against Russian compatriot Valery Gritsutin (who was on a 6 fight winning streak), at EFC 33 event, which he won by unanimous decision.^[24] After this fight, Rabadanov went on to sign for the US-based promotion Bellator MMA.^[25]

Rabadanov was set to make his debut for Bellator MMA against Daniel Carey, at Bellator 263 - Pitbull vs. McKee, on July 31, 2021.^[26] He KO'd the American fighter with a punch in round one of the fight.^[27]

In Rabadanov second bout for Bellator MMA, he booked to face against the Maori fighter Jay-Jay Wilson, at Bellator 276 - Borics vs. Burnell, on March 12, 2022.^[28] He defeated New Zealander via unanimous decision.^[29]

Four months later on July 22, Rabadanov was booked to face the Hawaiian fighter Bobby King, at Bellator 283 - Lima vs. Jackson event.^[30] He won the fight via unanimous decision.^[31]

In December of the same year, Rabadanov participated in a special event in co-promotion between Bellator MMA and Japan-based promotion Rizin Fighting Federation called Bellator MMA vs Rizin where he set to face off against Japanese BJJ specialist by the name of Koji Takeda.^[32] He won the fight against Takeda via unanimous decision.^[33]

In Rabadanov fifth fight for Bellator, he was booked in a bout against the Dutch adversary Pieter Buist, at Bellator 297 - Nemkov vs. Romero event, on June 16, 2023.^[34] The Dagestani defeated the Dutchman via unanimous decision on judges scorecard.^[35]

Rabadanov started the 2024 season with a bout against Solomon Renfro on April 12, 2024 at PFL 2.^[36] He won the fight by unanimous decision.^[37]

His second fight for 2024 season was booked against unbeaten Nicaraguan prospect, Elvin "The Prodigy" Espinoza on June 21, 2024 on the prelims of PFL 5 - Collard vs. Burnell card, at Jon M. Huntsman Center stadium, Salt Lake City, Utah.^[38] Rabadanov won the fight via (30-27) unanimous decision on all three judges scorecard.^[39] With this the Nicaraguan fighter suffered the first loss of his pro fight career.^[40]

• Russian Combat Sambo Federation (RCSF)
  • Russian Professional Combat Sambo Championship-Samara, Russia (2014) at 74kg^[41]
• World Combat Sambo Federation (WCSF)
  • World Combat Sambo Championship-Moscow, Russia (2014) at 74kg^[42]

• Russian MMA Union
  • Russian Championship-Omsk, Russia (2015 at lightweight)^[43][44]
• World Mixed Martial Arts Association (WMMAA)
  • World Championship-Prague, Czech Republic (2015 at lightweight)^{[45][46][47][48]}

• Eagle Fighting Championship/Gorilla Fighting Championship^[a]
  • GF Lightweight Championship (One time)^[49]

^[50]

• List of current Bellator MMA fighters
• List of male mixed martial artists

• Professional MMA record for Gadzhi Rabadanov from Sherdog