Ali Isaev

Former PFL heavyweight champion Ali Isaev has also competed in the Olympic Games and for the Fight Nights Global promotion.

Isaev was born and raised in the Dagestan region of Russia, and also has Azerbaijani heritage. Before turning his attention to mixed martial arts, Isaev was a freestyle wrestling European champion, taking home bronze at the 2008 European championships and gold at the 2009 European Championship. In 2008 he competed in the Summer Olympics in the men’s freestyle wrestling event, joining Fight Nights Global as an MMA fighter in 2016. Isaev has an impressive track record, and goes undefeated in his nine professional mixed martial arts fights. In 2019 he joined the Professional Fighters League, earning himself as reputation as a formidable competitor with wins in his first two bouts. He worked his way up the ranks, winning the heavyweight title via technical knockout in the same year as he joined the promotion. By now he was well established as a fierce fighter, becoming known for his power and agility in the ring. Isaev has become popular with fans, and has nearly 50k followers on Instagram where he posts training updates, behind the scenes shots and pictures from his latest fights.

At the age of 37, Isaev is still an impressive opponent in the ring and is now taking on much younger fighters as he continues to compete in the PFL.