Vagab Vagabov

Vagab Mamedovich Vagabov (Вагабов, Вагаб Мамедович) is a Russian professional boxer and mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter competing in the middleweight, light heavyweight, and heavyweight weight classes. He has competed at the professional level since 2006. A three-time world champion in MMA, world champion in CJJ, world champion in Freestyle Cage Fighting (FCF)-MMA, and winner of the Wushu-Sanda World Cup. He is known for competing in tournaments organized by WFCA, AMC Fight Nights Global, M-1, PROFC, and WSOF.

Biography

Vagab Vagabov was born on February 11, 1986, in the city of Makhachkala, Dagestan SSR. He is originally from the village of Mekegi in the Levashinsky District of the Republic of Dagestan.

In 2024, Vagab signed a contract with the Russian Armed Forces and served in the zone of the Special military operation (SVO).

In a discussion regarding his time training with Jon Jones, Vagab Vagabov provided an assessment that contrasted the champion's fight-night performance with his behavior during training sessions. According to Vagabov, while Jones consistently reaches his peak performance during official bouts, his training environment involves a degree of trial and error. Vagabov stated, “Jones shows the highest level he shows in fights. But in the gym, he misses. He misses overhands, he missed chokes a couple of times. Catches himself too, good chokes.”

Sports career

The first sport that caught Vagab's attention was boxing. At the age of 10, he began training in boxing, and two years later joined a kickboxing section, where he trained for two years. He then redirected his athletic path and from the ages of 14 to 16 played for the youth football club Anzhi. After that, Vagab resumed competing in various combat sports. He fulfilled the standards for the title of Master of Sport in boxing, kickboxing, and combat sambo.

At around the age of twenty, he received several disqualifications in amateur boxing, after which he took a five-year break.

On March 1, 2006, he made his professional MMA debut. He competed sporadically over the following years, but in 2012 joined an MMA reality show, where he won three years in a row, and subsequently continued his professional fighting career. Along the way, Vagabov became a three-time world MMA champion under the M-1 Fighter and Mix-Fighter banners, world champion in combat jiu-jitsu, world champion in full-contact hand-to-hand combat, and winner of the Wushu-Sanda World Cup.

At WSOF 23, held in September 2015, Vagabov made his promotional debut against Brian Grinnell. Vagabov secured a second-round victory by technical knockout, finishing the bout with a flurry of strikes against the cage. The contest ended in controversy when referee Al Guinee moved to halt the action; Vagabov continued to strike and landed a knee on Grinnell after the intervention had begun. Following the win, Vagabov maintained an undefeated professional record of 16–0 and was noted for his background in kickboxing as a prospect in the middleweight division, while training under the Jackson Wink MMA Academy in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Vagab had a first-round knockout victory over UFC veteran Alex Nicholson in a four-ounce glove boxing match held under REN TV Fight Club Super Series rules in Moscow in October 2022.

In March 2026, Yoel Romero faced Russian fighter Vagab Vagabov in a five-round bare-knuckle bout at IBA Bare Knuckle 4 in Saint Petersburg. Vagabov won by unanimous decision in a closely contested and controversial fight. Following the victory, Vagabov called out UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones face-to-face, but Jones later rejected the challenge.

Professional boxing career

On February 16, 2013, he began his professional boxing career at cruiserweight, winning by unanimous decision (scores: 40–36, 40–37, 40–38) over young Ukrainian Aleksandr Okhrey (0–2).

On December 25, 2021, in Moscow, he defeated young prospect and compatriot Damil Sharafutdinov (debut) by unanimous decision (scores: 39–37, 40–36 twice).

Sporting achievements

• World Champion in Jiu-jitsu (Dnipropetrovsk, 2011)
• World Cup Champion in Wushu-Sanda (Hong Kong, 2012)
• Three-time World MMA Champion under M-1 Fighter and Mix-Fighter (2012, 2013, 2014)
• World Champion in Full-Contact Hand-to-Hand Combat FCF-MMA (2015)
• Master of Sport in Boxing
• Master of Sport in Kickboxing
• Master of Sport in Combat Sambo
• Master of Sport of International Class in Combat Jiu-Jitsu
• Master of Sport of International Class in Wushu-Sanda

Criminal case

Vagav was suspected of kidnapping, extortion on an especially large scale, robbery, attempted [...], and illegal possession of weapons. Ultimately, the extortion charge was reclassified as "arbitrary conduct" (samoupravstvo), and the remaining charges were not proven, with the exception of illegal weapons possession, for which nine months were added to his sentence. In total, Vagabov served three years — first in Moscow at Pre-trial Detention Centre No. 5 "Vodny Stadion", and then in Dagestan at Correctional Colony No. 7, in the settlement of Novo-Tyube. He was released in May 2020.

Professional boxing record

Professional striking record

MMA record

|- |Win |align=center|30–1–1 |David Barkhudaryan |TKO (punches) |AMC Fight Nights 113: Vagabov vs. Barkhudaryan |July 15, 2022 |align=center|4 |align=center|1:26 |Krasnodar, Russia | |- |Win |align=center|29–1–1 |Hassan Yusefi |KO (punch) |AMC Fight Nights 105: Mineev vs. Ismailov 2 |October 16, 2021 |align=center|3 |align=center|0:29 |Sochi, Russia | |- |Win |align=center|28–1–1 |Eder de Souza |KO (punch) |AMC Fight Nights 100: Bikrev vs. Dazaev |April 11, 2021 |align=center|2 |align=center|1:38 |Moscow, Russia | |- |Win |align=center|27–1–1 |Dmitry Andryushko |TKO (corner stoppage) |AMC Fight Nights: Winter Cup |December 24, 2020 |align=center|3 |align=center|1:00 |Moscow, Russia | |- |Win |align=center|26–1–1 |Alimjon Shadmanov |TKO (punches) |FFC Falco Fighting Championship: Road Fighter 17 |November 8, 2020 |align=center|1 |align=center|0:50 |Osh, Kyrgyzstan | |- |Win |align=center|25–1–1 |Alexey Efremov |TKO (punches) |ProFC 62 Lightweight Grand Prix Finals |March 26, 2017 |align=center|3 |align=center|3:35 |Rostov-on-Don, Russia | |- |Draw |align=center|24–1–1 |Alexey Efremov |Draw |WFCA 34: Battle in Moscow |February 25, 2017 |align=center|3 |align=center|5:00 |Moscow, Russia | |- |Loss |align=center|24–1 |Bruno Santos |Decision (split) |WSOF 34: Gaethje vs. Firmino |December 31, 2016 |align=center|3 |align=center|5:00 |New York, United States | |- |Win |align=center|24–0 |Nikos Sokolis |Decision (split) |WFCA 17 – Grand Prix Akhmat |April 9, 2016 |align=center|3 |align=center|5:00 |Grozny, Russia | |- |Win |align=center|23–0 |Brian Grinnell |TKO (knees and punches) |WSOF 23: Gaethje vs. Palomino 2 |September 18, 2015 |align=center|2 |align=center|2:29 |Phoenix, United States | |- |Win |align=center|22–0 |German Franco |KO |FCF-MMA World Championship 2015 |June 14, 2015 |align=center|1 |align=center|0:24 |Kislovodsk, Russia | |- |Win |align=center|21–0 |Chris Katanga |TKO (punches) |OC – Oplot Challenge 109 |April 18, 2015 |align=center|2 |align=center|2:43 |Moscow, Russia | |- |Win |align=center|20–0 |Reinaldo da Silva |Decision (unanimous) |Russian MMA Union – New Horizons Grand Final |November 22, 2014 |align=center|2 |align=center|5:00 |Minsk, Belarus | |- |Win |align=center|19–0 |Mikhail Bureshkin |Decision (majority) |M-1 Global Super-Stage Reality Show MixFighter |September 27, 2014 |align=center|2 |align=center|5:00 |Mytishchi, Russia | |- |Win |align=center|18–0 |Denis Kornev |Submission (triangle choke) |M-1 Global MixFighter Season 4 |June 15, 2014 |align=center|1 |align=center|1:28 |Minsk, Belarus | |- |Win |align=center|17–0 |Ruslan Khaskhanov |Submission (guillotine choke) |MMA Star in the Ring – Shamil vs. Renat |March 1, 2014 |align=center|2 |align=center|N/A |Makhachkala, Russia | |- |Win |align=center|16–0 |Rudolf Kriz |Decision (unanimous) |M-1 Global M-1 Fighter 3 Finale |December 15, 2013 |align=center|2 |align=center|5:00 |Moscow, Russia | |- |Win |align=center|15–0 |Viktor Kiyko |Submission (guillotine choke) |OC – Oplot Challenge 75 |September 6, 2013 |align=center|2 |align=center|0:55 |Kharkiv, Ukraine | |- |Win |align=center|14–0 |Fatih Kerim |KO (punch) |MPF Moscow Open Pankration Cup 2013 |February 23, 2013 |align=center|2 |align=center|3:18 |Moscow, Russia | |- |Win |align=center|13–0 |Oleg Novoselов |Decision (unanimous) |M-1 Fighter 2 – Grand Finale |December 16, 2012 |align=center|3 |align=center|5:00 |Moscow, Russia | |- |Win |align=center|12–0 |Zurab Kokaev |TKO (punches) |POC – Pride of Caucasus |September 23, 2012 |align=center|1 |align=center|4:20 |Khasavyurt, Russia | |- |Win |align=center|11–0 |Artur Astakhov |KO |M-1 Global – M-1 Fighter 2012 Semifinals |April 29, 2012 |align=center|2 |align=center|N/A |Moscow, Russia | |- |Win |align=center|10–0 |Mikhail Shein |Decision (unanimous) |M-1 Global – M-1 Fighter 2012 Quarterfinals |April 22, 2012 |align=center|3 |align=center|5:00 |Moscow, Russia | |- |Win |align=center|9–0 |Sanzhar Safarov |TKO (punches) |M-1 Fighter 2 Elimination Round |April 8, 2012 |align=center|1 |align=center|1:01 |Moscow, Russia | |- |Win |align=center|8–0 |Murad Chachanov |TKO (punches) |Moscow Open – Pankration Cup 2012 |March 10, 2012 |align=center|1 |align=center|2:55 |Moscow, Russia | |- |Win |align=center|7–0 |Islam Masaev |Submission (guillotine choke) |OFC – Octagon Fight Club |October 22, 2011 |align=center|1 |align=center|0:00 |Moscow, Russia | |- |Win |align=center|6–0 |Aleksandr Kovsun |Submission (triangle choke) |M-1 Ukraine – International Club Grand Prix 1 |April 2, 2011 |align=center|1 |align=center|1:44 |Kyiv, Ukraine | |- |Win |align=center|5–0 |Ishkan Rasulov |KO (punch) |OFZ – Open Fight Zone |November 1, 2010 |align=center|1 |align=center|0:00 |Moscow, Russia | |- |Win |align=center|4–0 |Andreis Zozulya |TKO (punches) |FC – Fighters Cup |June 5, 2009 |align=center|2 |align=center|0:00 |Kharkiv, Ukraine | |- |Win |align=center|3–0 |Vyacheslav Yegorov |TKO (punches) |Super Pro Battle |February 12, 2009 |align=center|1 |align=center|2:13 |Krasnodar, Russia | |- |Win |align=center|2–0 |Maxim Semenov |KO (knee) |PCOK – Pankration Cup of Krasnodar |March 1, 2006 |align=center|1 |align=center|0:00 |Krasnodar, Russia | |- |Win |align=center|1–0 |Vladimir Yeroshin |TKO (punches) |PCOK – Pankration Cup of Krasnodar | |align=center|2 |align=center|0:00 |Krasnodar, Russia | |}

External links

• Vagab Vagabov – profile at Fighttime
• Vagab Vagabov – profile at Tapology
• Vagab Vagabov – page at vRINGe.com
• Vagab Vagabov – news at AllBoxing.Ru