NEWS

Since his early days, the former BRAVE Combat Federation world champion Abdoul Abdouraguimov was forced to adapt himself, coming up with creative solutions to deal with constantly-changing situations surrounding him.

Born in Dagestan, Russia, Abdouraguimov relocated to Germany as a child with his family, where he grew up, always trying hard to fit in. Despite his best efforts, the young Abdoul did not manage to find his own place and, at age 14, left another home behind.

This time, Abdouraguimov’s family landed in Nice, France, where his journey would take an unexpected turn, and one which changed it forever.

You see, it’s quite common for world class martial artists to have contact with combat sports since their younger days. But Abdoul Abdouraguimov is no ordinary man and before his 16th birthday, he’d never stepped into a gym before.

But once he’s done, well, all pieces pretty much fell in place. Dealing well with the new country, speaking the language fluently and finding in the gym a place to call a second home, everything clicked for Abdouraguimov.

But if Abdoul’s path was marked by change, his starting point wouldn’t give a clue about what was about to come. In fact, he started competing in freestyle wrestling and moved to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu three years later.

For a while, it seemed that he’d reached a permanent stop, gathering enormous success in his grappling career, with multiple European championships.

The change in Abdouraguimov’s life, however, comes from within, and not the other way around. And he quickly urged for new and more complex ways to test himself, which led him to start a career in Mixed Martial Arts.

Abdouraguimov built a solid career in the European scene, remaining undefeated and collecting finishes in the process. He was labeled as one of the top prospects fighting out of the continent, which drew the attention of the BRAVE CF scouting team.

Joining the truly global promotion, he was once again in the spotlight and facing new types of challenges in every round, forcing his adaptive nature to flourish even more.

In fact, the constantly-changing nature of Abdoul Abdouraguimov is expressed in his Mixed Martial Arts career in an unique way. He’s a rare case of fighter who changed nicknames multiple times in his career.

Abdouraguimov made his MMA debut being known as “Sinistro” (the portuguese for “Sinister”, a Brazilian slang meant for someone who’s really good in what they do). This nickname was given by his Brazilian jiu-jitsu coach in Nantes.

After he started collecting titles, his teammates then started calling Abdoul “The Conqueror”. But that nickname didn’t last long too and he got the nickname “The Lazy King”, for having a huge amount of natural talent but not necessarily the same amount of time invested in the training routines.

Abdouraguimov achieved the pinnacle of the sport in 2019, when he captured the BRAVE CF Super Welterweight title in spectacular fashion, defeating the then incumbent champion Jarrah Al Silawi in a gruelling five-round war in his home country of Jordan.

His world then flipped upside down in a matter of months, as he immediately lost the rematch against Al Silawi in the same year and decided to quit the sport at age 23. 

But this decision was also not definitive and Abdouraguimov found his motivation once again and returned to competition in 2020, showing the form that made him an international star once again and submitting the top contender’s Carl Booth and Louis Glismann in the first round.

Abdouraguimov is set to face Nursulton Ruziboev at BRAVE CF 52, having experienced the ups and downs that many won’t see in a lifetime inside and outside of the sport in just a handful of years.

The “Lazy King” has now decided to make this roller coaster move only one way: upwards. A win will take his path to an inevitable encounter with his nemesis Jarrah Al Silawi, for a record-setting trilogy with the BRAVE CF Super Welterweight title on the line.