Tracking top amateurs pro career trajectories

[HuskySamoan]

This thread is somewhat for me to look back on and extrapolate information from down the road, but any and all discussion is more than welcome. Any contributions are welcome.

A lot of fighter's, be it due to contract issues, visa issues, better job opportunities, injuries etc. just seem to get stopped in their tracks despite having what seem(ed)s like such a promising career ahead of them. This is a thread where I'm listing a lot of the best amateurs who are early into their pro careers to see where they go, to gather percentages, reasons, success rates, abrupt ends etc. I made the cutoff age 26, incase you're wondering where some guys are. I've definitely missed some guys, if you have any glaring recommendations, I'm all ears. Several Irish and British guys I haven't watched much tape on or looked into that probably deserve a spot on here. Some guys like David Samuel who I think is very, very skilled didn't make it just due to how little of amateur fights he has. If you're wondering where the Brazilians are, they tend not to have tons of amateur fights and just go pro very early but I do follow plenty of Brazilian prospects. Similarly a lot of East Asian MMA fighters just go pro sooner and do a lot less amateurs. Russia, Central Asia and Europe seem the most invested by far in the global amateur scene thus far. However with amateur MMA being in the 2026 Asian Games this year, it's all very interesting.

Flyweight

Yersultan Shakenbay 2-0 Pro, 16-0 amateur, 25 years old
3x IMMAF Worlds Gold Medalist. He got his US Visa in 2025 and has been staying in Los Angeles for the last several months. Hasn't fought since 2024 but is actively training.

Samba Sima 3-0 Pro, 21-4 amateur, 22 years old
IMMAF Worlds Silver Medalist & Bronze Medalist, French amateur national champion. Fighting in Hexagone promotion currently, very talented striker with good athleticism, likely ages into Bantamweight.

Muhammad Salohidinov 5-1 Pro, 14-2 amateur, 24 years old
IMMAF Worlds and Asia Gold medalist, Russian Pankration national champion. Caught his first pro loss in his 3rd pro fight over in Japan vs 17-4-2 veteran Seiichiro Ito, too much too soon, Salohidinov has stayed active since.

Akhmed Amaev 4-0 Pro, 7-0 amateur, 22 years old
Junior IMMAF worlds Gold medalist. Fighting for Ares, looks talented.

Bektur Zhenishbek Uulu 5-0 Pro, 14-1 amateur, 26 years old
IMMAF Worlds gold medalist and Russian amateur national champion.

Jamshid Tilyaev 3-0 Pro, 8-2 amateur, 24 years old
IMMAF worlds gold medalist, he had an active 2025 fighting in Octagon in Central Asia.

Abdulmalik Siriev 1-0 Pro, 11-0 amateur, 21 years old
Amateur MMA Russian National champion, Pankration Champion, Hand to Hand combat champion, No Gi champion. Trains with Zabit in Russia.

Bantamweight

Asaf Chopurov 9-0 Pro, 35-1 amateur, 24 yeas old
IMMAF Junior Worlds Gold medalist, many time Russian national champion. He's already the champ in UAE Warriors, kids going places most likely.

Shakban Gapizov 5-0 Pro, 13-1 amateur, 26 yeas old
IMMAF Worlds gold medalist and Russian national champion. I'm not sure what the inactivity with Shakban has been from but he's super talented, his 1st round smashing up a weight vs 18-2 Mukhamed Emirov was eye opening. Hopefully he can have an active 2026.

Dzhamaludin Aliev 11-0 Pro, 12-2 amateur, 26 years old
IMMAF worlds Silver medalist and Russian National Championships Silver Medalist. Aliev has some really good wins, hope to see him signed to a major promotion soon...very well rounded.

Kasib Murdoch 7-0 Pro, 11-0 amateur, 24 years old
IMMAF world champ, Aussie Gold Gloves boxing champ, very decorated youth in combat sports all around boxing, wrestling, grappling. Trains with Volkanovski.

Elias Erber 2-0 Pro, 28-5 amateur, 23 years old
IMMAF Worlds and European Gold Medalist, seems athletic with a background in parkour and Judo, his Judo background is on clear display in his fights surprising a lot of the Russians and Central Asians in his amteur career.

Zafar Rashidov 3-0 Pro, 10-1 amateur, 25 years old
IMMAF Worlds gold medalist, Cadet Uzbek National champion in freestyle & competed at the Cadet World Championships. Active 2025 fighting for Octagon in Central Asia.

Featherweight

Maxim Fukhs 5-1 Pro, 8-0 amateur, 24 years old
IMMAF Worlds gold medalist, Russian Juniors national champion. Very technical and well rounded, caught a seismic knee vs 22-10 veteran Rafael Dias in the 3rd when up on scorecards (looks like they reported the wrong round for the loss), Trains at Petr Yan's gym in Russia alongside a bunch of really talented lower weight class guys.

Marko Ancic 3-0 Pro, 12-1 amateur, 22 years old
Serbian national champ in Freestyle and combat sambo, trains out of American Top Team Belgrade. Seems promising, all around talent.

Otabek Rajabov 5-0 Pro, 18-1 amateur, 23 years old
2x IMMAF Worlds gold medalist. Fighting over in Japan at Pancrase, active 2025 with 4 fights. Looks to be a showman with his striking thus far, hasn't been challenged much. Seems very talented.

A few guys who haven't had their first pro fight yet but are on my radar. Normally I wouldn't include them but they are quite talented and all clumped at 145lbs.

Zafarjon Asatov 10-0 amateur, 21 years old
2x IMMAF worlds gold medalist. Kid definitely has a strong grappling base but can really crack, some impressive knockouts which aren't common for amateurs.

Danil Fedenko 17-1 amateur, 20 years old
Kid looks talented, I know he's done well in other combat sports as well. He's been largely inactive the last two years, had a pro debut get canceled. I'm not sure if it's injuries, if he decided on going to University or what, but I keep my eyes open seeing if he will fully commit and what he could do under a bigger gym/with total dedication. Well rounded, reminds me of a young Max Holloway in some ways but with more of a grappling base.

Stephen Clancy 9-0 amateur, 19 years old
Stephen is a Juniors European Muay Thai champion and recently beat Ireland's 14-3 IMMAF Silver Medalist Jake Ngai recently in an amateur bout. Clancy looks talented and comes from a fighting family.

Lightweight

Patrick Habirora 8-0 Pro, 21-6 amateur, 24 years old
IMMAF worlds Gold and Silver medalist. Standout prospect in the PFL, was at the top of my list for LW's the UFC should have signed for contender series.

Yusup Khalukhoev 3-0 Pro, 16-0 amateur, 22 years old
Russian Nationals champion and Junior Russian nationals champion. Ingushetian, trains with Movsar Evloev. Super technical, well rounded and quick. A guy to watchout for.

George Staines 8-0 Pro, 16-1 amateur, 25 years old
IMMAF Worlds Gold and Silver medalist. Has had some good wins in his pro career already, is someone that should be on the short list for the contender series.

Ilya Fomochkin 3-0 Pro, 11-2 amateur, 20 years old
Russian Nationals champion at 155lbs and Russian National runner up at 170lbs. Trains with Arman Tsarukyan, very dynamic striker, quick, big for 155, has some impressive KO's.

Masud Odinaev 2-0 Pro, 14-4 amateur, 25 years old
IMMAF Worlds Gold and Silver Medalist.

Theo Ulrich 7-0 Pro, 12-1 amateur, 24 years old
Reminds me a bit of the Diaz brothers, lanky, aggressive, all about pressure. We will see how he holds up vs better competition. Fighting out of Hexagone like a lot of French talent.

Altin Zenuni 3-0 Pro, 26-5 amateur, 22 years old
IMMAF Worlds Bronze Medalist and Junior Worlds Silver Medalist. Altin just upset Turkish Murat Tuysuz who was 5-0 MMAwith a 25-3 kickboxing background in his last pro bout for Oktagon.

Again breaking the rules but this amateur has stood out to be as very skilled so I'll include him for 155

Khalil Pirmagomedov 11-0 amateur, 20 years old
Won Russian national championships in Juniors and adult. His last win was over Kurban Zaynukov who's 5-0 pro and 20-2 amateur to take home the 2025 Russian national championship at just 19. Khalil trains with Eagles MMA. (supposed to make his pro debut very soon)

Welterweight

Alvi Dasuyev 8-0 Pro, 13-3 amateur 23-34 years old
IMMAF Worlds Silver Medalist. He's very talented and already has a marquee pro win over Daniil Prikaza, someone that should definitely be contender series bound.

Vladislav Sukalenko 11-1 Pro, 8-0 amateur, 24 years old
Junior IMMAF Worlds and Junior Russian National champ in MMA. Talented but step up in competition career wise is needed for him now. Has decent wins but at 11-1 should be fighting higher level opponents soon. Has an amateur win over Qosim Sardarov.

Oualy Tandia 4-0 Pro, 25-3 amateur, 23 years old
Came just short of a medal at the IMMAFs. Fast, very long Welterweight out of France that also fights for Hexagone. Trains out of a good gym.

Qosim Sardarov 6-0 Pro, 16-4 amateur, 24 years old
2x IMMAF Worlds gold medalist, has wins over Alvi Dasuyev, David Hervias and Oualy Tandia. Has a lot of elite wins in the amateurs. Also fighting in Pancrase right now, reeled off 6 wins in 2025, he's a bit skinny fat and will need to drop from 185 to 170lbs as he climbs the ladder competition wise.

Middleweight

Fergus Jenkins 4-0 Pro, 12-1 amateur, 25 years old
IMMAF Worlds gold medalist. One of Israel Adesanya and Navajo Sterling's main training partners.

David Hervias 2-0 Pro, 20-2 amateur, 24 years old
IMMAF worlds Gold and Silver medalist.

 

[Feniamin]

This thread is somewhat for me to look back on and extrapolate information from down the road, but any and all discussion is more than welcome. Any contributions are welcome.

A lot of fighter's, be it due to contract issues, visa issues, better job opportunities, injuries etc. just seem to get stopped in their tracks despite having what seem(ed)s like such a promising career ahead of them. This is a thread where I'm listing a lot of the best amateurs who are early into their pro careers to see where they go, to gather percentages, reasons, success rates, abrupt ends etc. I made the cutoff age 26, incase you're wondering where some guys are. I've definitely missed some guys, if you have any glaring recommendations, I'm all ears. Several Irish and British guys I haven't watched much tape on or looked into that probably deserve a spot on here. Some guys like David Samuel who I think is very, very skilled didn't make it just due to how little of amateur fights he has. If you're wondering where the Brazilians are, they tend not to have tons of amateur fights and just go pro very early but I do follow plenty of Brazilian prospects. Similarly a lot of East Asian MMA fighters just go pro sooner and do a lot less amateurs. Russia, Central Asia and Europe seem the most invested by far in the global amateur scene thus far. However with amateur MMA being in the 2026 Asian Games this year, it's all very interesting.

Flyweight

Yersultan Shakenbay 2-0 Pro, 16-0 amateur, 25 years old
3x IMMAF Worlds Gold Medalist. He got his US Visa in 2025 and has been staying in Los Angeles for the last several months. Hasn't fought since 2024 but is actively training.

Samba Sima 3-0 Pro, 21-4 amateur, 22 years old
IMMAF Worlds Silver Medalist & Bronze Medalist, French amateur national champion. Fighting in Hexagone promotion currently, very talented striker with good athleticism, likely ages into Bantamweight.

Muhammad Salohidinov 5-1 Pro, 14-2 amateur, 24 years old
IMMAF Worlds and Asia Gold medalist, Russian Pankration national champion. Caught his first pro loss in his 3rd pro fight over in Japan vs 17-4-2 veteran Seiichiro Ito, too much too soon, Salohidinov has stayed active since.

Akhmed Amaev 4-0 Pro, 7-0 amateur, 22 years old
Junior IMMAF worlds Gold medalist. Fighting for Ares, looks talented.

Bektur Zhenishbek Uulu 5-0 Pro, 14-1 amateur, 26 years old
IMMAF Worlds gold medalist and Russian amateur national champion.

Jamshid Tilyaev 3-0 Pro, 8-2 amateur, 24 years old
IMMAF worlds gold medalist, he had an active 2025 fighting in Octagon in Central Asia.

Abdulmalik Siriev 1-0 Pro, 11-0 amateur, 21 years old
Amateur MMA Russian National champion, Pankration Champion, Hand to Hand combat champion, No Gi champion. Trains with Zabit in Russia.

Bantamweight

Asaf Chopurov 9-0 Pro, 35-1 amateur, 24 yeas old
IMMAF Junior Worlds Gold medalist, many time Russian national champion. He's already the champ in UAE Warriors, kids going places most likely.

Shakban Gapizov 5-0 Pro, 13-1 amateur, 26 yeas old
IMMAF Worlds gold medalist and Russian national champion. I'm not sure what the inactivity with Shakban has been from but he's super talented, his 1st round smashing up a weight vs 18-2 Mukhamed Emirov was eye opening. Hopefully he can have an active 2026.

Dzhamaludin Aliev 11-0 Pro, 12-2 amateur, 26 years old
IMMAF worlds Silver medalist and Russian National Championships Silver Medalist. Aliev has some really good wins, hope to see him signed to a major promotion soon...very well rounded.

Kasib Murdoch 7-0 Pro, 11-0 amateur, 24 years old
IMMAF world champ, Aussie Gold Gloves boxing champ, very decorated youth in combat sports all around boxing, wrestling, grappling. Trains with Volkanovski.

Elias Erber 2-0 Pro, 28-5 amateur, 23 years old
IMMAF Worlds and European Gold Medalist, seems athletic with a background in parkour and Judo, his Judo background is on clear display in his fights surprising a lot of the Russians and Central Asians in his amteur career.

Zafar Rashidov 3-0 Pro, 10-1 amateur, 25 years old
IMMAF Worlds gold medalist, Cadet Uzbek National champion in freestyle & competed at the Cadet World Championships. Active 2025 fighting for Octagon in Central Asia.

Featherweight

Maxim Fukhs 5-1 Pro, 8-0 amateur, 24 years old
IMMAF Worlds gold medalist, Russian Juniors national champion. Very technical and well rounded, caught a seismic knee vs 22-10 veteran Rafael Dias in the 3rd when up on scorecards (looks like they reported the wrong round for the loss), Trains at Petr Yan's gym in Russia alongside a bunch of really talented lower weight class guys.

Marko Ancic 3-0 Pro, 12-1 amateur, 22 years old
Serbian national champ in Freestyle and combat sambo, trains out of American Top Team Belgrade. Seems promising, all around talent.

Otabek Rajabov 5-0 Pro, 18-1 amateur, 23 years old
2x IMMAF Worlds gold medalist. Fighting over in Japan at Pancrase, active 2025 with 4 fights. Looks to be a showman with his striking thus far, hasn't been challenged much. Seems very talented.

A few guys who haven't had their first pro fight yet but are on my radar. Normally I wouldn't include them but they are quite talented and all clumped at 145lbs.

Zafarjon Asatov 10-0 amateur, 21 years old
2x IMMAF worlds gold medalist. Kid definitely has a strong grappling base but can really crack, some impressive knockouts which aren't common for amateurs.

Danil Fedenko 17-1 amateur, 20 years old
Kid looks talented, I know he's done well in other combat sports as well. He's been largely inactive the last two years, had a pro debut get canceled. I'm not sure if it's injuries, if he decided on going to University or what, but I keep my eyes open seeing if he will fully commit and what he could do under a bigger gym/with total dedication. Well rounded, reminds me of a young Max Holloway in some ways but with more of a grappling base.

Stephen Clancy 9-0 amateur, 19 years old
Stephen is a Juniors European Muay Thai champion and recently beat Ireland's 14-3 IMMAF Silver Medalist Jake Ngai recently in an amateur bout. Clancy looks talented and comes from a fighting family.

Lightweight

Patrick Habirora 8-0 Pro, 21-6 amateur, 24 years old
IMMAF worlds Gold and Silver medalist. Standout prospect in the PFL, was at the top of my list for LW's the UFC should have signed for contender series.

Yusup Khalukhoev 3-0 Pro, 16-0 amateur, 22 years old
Russian Nationals champion and Junior Russian nationals champion. Ingushetian, trains with Movsar Evloev. Super technical, well rounded and quick. A guy to watchout for.

George Staines 8-0 Pro, 16-1 amateur, 25 years old
IMMAF Worlds Gold and Silver medalist. Has had some good wins in his pro career already, is someone that should be on the short list for the contender series.

Ilya Fomochkin 3-0 Pro, 11-2 amateur, 20 years old
Russian Nationals champion at 155lbs and Russian National runner up at 170lbs. Trains with Arman Tsarukyan, very dynamic striker, quick, big for 155, has some impressive KO's.

Masud Odinaev 2-0 Pro, 14-4 amateur, 25 years old
IMMAF Worlds Gold and Silver Medalist.

Theo Ulrich 7-0 Pro, 12-1 amateur, 24 years old
Reminds me a bit of the Diaz brothers, lanky, aggressive, all about pressure. We will see how he holds up vs better competition. Fighting out of Hexagone like a lot of French talent.

Altin Zenuni 3-0 Pro, 26-5 amateur, 22 years old
IMMAF Worlds Bronze Medalist and Junior Worlds Silver Medalist. Altin just upset Turkish Murat Tuysuz who was 5-0 MMAwith a 25-3 kickboxing background in his last pro bout for Oktagon.

Again breaking the rules but this amateur has stood out to be as very skilled so I'll include him for 155

Khalil Pirmagomedov 11-0 amateur, 20 years old
Won Russian national championships in Juniors and adult. His last win was over Kurban Zaynukov who's 5-0 pro and 20-2 amateur to take home the 2025 Russian national championship at just 19. Khalil trains with Eagles MMA. (supposed to make his pro debut very soon)

Welterweight

Alvi Dasuyev 8-0 Pro, 13-3 amateur 23-34 years old
IMMAF Worlds Silver Medalist. He's very talented and already has a marquee pro win over Daniil Prikaza, someone that should definitely be contender series bound.

Vladislav Sukalenko 11-1 Pro, 8-0 amateur, 24 years old
Junior IMMAF Worlds and Junior Russian National champ in MMA. Talented but step up in competition career wise is needed for him now. Has decent wins but at 11-1 should be fighting higher level opponents soon. Has an amateur win over Qosim Sardarov.

Oualy Tandia 4-0 Pro, 25-3 amateur, 23 years old
Came just short of a medal at the IMMAFs. Fast, very long Welterweight out of France that also fights for Hexagone. Trains out of a good gym.

Qosim Sardarov 6-0 Pro, 16-4 amateur, 24 years old
2x IMMAF Worlds gold medalist, has wins over Alvi Dasuyev, David Hervias and Oualy Tandia. Has a lot of elite wins in the amateurs. Also fighting in Pancrase right now, reeled off 6 wins in 2025, he's a bit skinny fat and will need to drop from 185 to 170lbs as he climbs the ladder competition wise.

Middleweight

Fergus Jenkins 4-0 Pro, 12-1 amateur, 25 years old
IMMAF Worlds gold medalist. One of Israel Adesanya and Navajo Sterling's main training partners.

David Hervias 2-0 Pro, 20-2 amateur, 24 years old
IMMAF worlds Gold and Silver medalist.

Pirmagomedov fought last week https://www.sherdog.com/fighter/Khalil-Pirmagomedov-494723

 

[Feniamin]

Very nice, I used tapology for the records and they didnt have this yet. I find Sherdog fighter database a lot less intuitive and informative (sorry guys).

And regarding Aliev I am sure it was announced that he signed with PFL but after that he fought for Turkish promotion.

 

[HuskySamoan]

Pirmagomedov fought last week https://www.sherdog.com/fighter/Khalil-Pirmagomedov-494723

Just saw the fight now, it looks fixed. Very strange.

 

[skylolow]

Surprised by the amount of amateur fights most of them have.

 

[STAY GOLD]

Surprised by the amount of amateur fights most of them have.

A lot of them have many more, they go unreported, though.

There’s hundreds of Spanish, Mexican and French fighters with extensive amateur records that haven’t been reported or recorded.

I mean extensive as in fighters with over 20 amateur fights that never get reported.

 

[HuskySamoan]

Surprised by the amount of amateur fights most of them have.

Yeah as @STAY GOLD said most of these guys have more amateur fights than whats stated. Still tons go unreported or they will only get the results for the championship round of a tournament like Russian nationals etc. A lot of junior amateurs in Brazil aren't sanctioned etc. A lot of junior MMA amateur bouts dont get reported either.