SUMMARY
- Shamil Gaziev is one of the best heavyweight prospects in the UFC.
- Gaziev is currently fighting out of Manama, Bahrain.
UFC is filled with some of the best fighters in the world. It is not just the home to the established fighters, there are a number of highly-rated prospects in the company and one such fighter is Shamil Gaziev. Gaziev is a heavyweight fight with an unbeaten record of 12-0. As he is not the most well known fighter in the company, there is a lot of curiosity about him.
Shamil Gaziev started his amateur career in 2018 against Grigoriy Ponomarev. However, it was not the most productive start to his career as Gaziev lost the bout via a judges decision. He then went on to win 8 amateur fights in a row before ending his amateur career with a loss.
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The 34-year-old started his professional career in 2020 against Denis Gvozdev. Unlike his amateur career, Shamil’s pro career got off to a winning start as he KO’ed Gvozdev within the first 23 seconds of the bout. Since then, Gaziev has gone on to register 8 KOs, 3 submissions, and 1 decision win. So where is he from and what are his roots? Let’s find out.
Which country is Shamil Gaziev from?
Shamil Gaziev is fighting out of Manama, Bahrain. He currently trains at KHK MMA Team, which is also based in Bahrain. However, that is not his birth place as Shamil was born in Dagestan on February 2, 1990. But, he has not represented Dagestan like many other fighters before him such as Khabib Nurmagomedov and Islam Makhachev.
Although he does not share a close relationship with Khabib, Shamil has commented on Khabib’s late father Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov. During an interview in 2023, Shamil shared a very personal experience while working with the late great MMA coach. Apparently Abdulmanap was a coach to Shamil and he once saved Gaziev’s career with a kind gesture.
Gaziev added, “Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov really took care of us not only in sport, but also in life. I remember that, because I was careless about my studies, I was going to be expelled from the university. When he learned about it, he came and talked to the principal. I was reinstated, but Nurmagomedov set one condition: I had to catch up and pass every subject I had failed. He would not let me into the gym until I did so.” (h/t via Asia Sport)
During the same interview, Shamil also addressed the living conditions back in Dagestan while he was growing up. Gaziev added that children used get into fights to prove their physical prowess and street fights were a very common occurrence. Just like all his friends, Gaziev also got involved with fights as he was bigger than his peers and he was always called upon for help.
Why is Gaziev living in Bahrain instead of Dagestan?
Shamil Gaziev faced a lot of adversities in his fighting career. The Dagestani fighter revealed that his father was a volleyball player and wanted his son to follow his footsteps too. Gaziev also added that him pursuing a career in MMA was not approved by his father. Hence, he took a break from fighting and started worked as a repairing engineer.
The 34-year-old has also addressed why he left Dagestan for Bahrain as well. He added, “I got a good offer from Bahrain, decided to give it a try, it worked out and I started a new chapter in my career.” Gaziev continued, “I have been fighting for Bahrain since 2018. I train there in KNK MMA gym.”
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Gaziev also elaborated that Eldar Eldarov was a major reason why he moved to Bahrain from Dagestan. Eldar is an old friend of Shamil and the head coach of Bahrain’s national MMA team. Despite living in the Middle East, he has no ill will toward Dagestan and claimed that a lot of his family members still lived there.
