Omari
Akhmedov could soon find himself on the precipice of a
life-altering payday.
The battle-hardened Russian will square off with the unbeaten
Joshua
Silveira when their 2022
Professional Fighters League light heavyweight semifinal serves
as the
PFL 7 co-main event on Friday at Madison Square Garden in New
York. The victor moves on to compete for $1 million in November.
Akhmedov, 34, enters the cage on the heels of back-to-back wins. He
last appeared at PFL 4, where he choked
Teodoras
Aukstuolis unconscious with a second-round arm-triangle and
locked up the No. 2 seed in the 205-pound tournament.
As Akhmedov sets his sights on his latest target, a look at five of
the moments that have come to define him during a career that now
spans well over a decade:
1. Damaging Debutant
Akhmedov made a spectacular
Ultimate Fighting Championship debut when he knocked out
Thiago
de Oliveira Perpetuo with a brutal two-punch combination in the
first round of their action-packed UFC Fight Night 32 prelim on
Nov. 9, 2013 at Goiania Arena in Goiania, Brazil. Perpetuo met his
end 3:31 into Round 1. An incidental clash of heads had Akhmedov
reeling early on, but the sambo practitioner weathered the
subsequent swarm and somehow recovered. Perpetuo later staggered
the Octagon rookie with a short right hand, only to have Akhmedov
answer with a takedown before transitioning to the Brazilian’s back
in search of a rear-naked choke. The two middleweights ultimately
returned to their feet. Perpetuo wobbled his counterpart again and
sent him into a backpedal, but he grew overzealous in his pursuit
of the finish. Akhmedov responded with a quick right hook that
brought “The Ultimate Fighter Brazil” Season 1 semifinalist to his
knees and followed it with a ringing right uppercut that sealed the
deal.
2. Icy Realities
Icelandic grappling savant
Gunnar
Nelson put away Akhmedov with a guillotine choke in the first
round of their UFC Fight Night 37 welterweight showcase on March 8,
2014 at the O2 Arena in London. Nelson drew the curtain 4:36 into
Round 1, delivering what was at the time his 12th consecutive
victory. Akhemdov was out of his depth in his first assignment at
170 pounds. Nelson drove the rugged Dagestani fighter to the canvas
behind a stiff straight left, moved immediately to mount and tore
into him with a series of wicked elbows. Akhmedov was virtually
defenseless in the face of pointed aggression. Nelson snatched the
guillotine during a subsequent scramble, engaged his hips and
prompted the tapout. The setback was Akhmedov’s first in more than
three years.
3. Too Close to Call
Former Venator Fighting Championship titleholder
Marvin
Vettori fought to a majority draw with Akhmedov as part of the
UFC 219 undercard on Dec. 30, 2017 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Judges Sal D’Amato and Tony Weeks struck 28-28 scorecards, while
Glenn Trowbridge saw it 29-28 for Vettori. Neither man was
satisfied with the outcome. Akhmedov raced out to an early
advantage by ripping kicks to the inside of the Italian’s lead leg
and firing off winging punches with both hands. However, his
high-velocity strikes failed to produce a finish and taxed his gas
tank. Vettori capitalized on his fatiguing opponent in the second
half of the fight and did his best work in the third round, where
he lit up the
American Top Team representative with a multi-punch volley, a
jumping knee and swarming punches before stunning him later with a
slashing straight left. Afterward, the two men went their separate
ways, with Vettori eventually emerging as the UFC’s top contender
at 185 pounds.
4. A Level Below
Former middleweight champion
Chris
Weidman returned to the winner’s circle when he laid claim to a
unanimous decision over Akhmedov in their grueling UFC Fight Night
174 co-main event on Aug. 8, 2020 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. All
three cageside judges scored it for Weidman: 29-27, 29-27 and
29-28. Akhmedov swung for the fences with winging punches and
appeared to seize control in the second round, where the
“All-American” grew visibly fatigued and conceded multiple
takedowns. However, Weidman found the gas necessary to forge ahead
in Round 3, as he tripped the American Top Team rep to the floor,
advanced to the back and ultimately achieved full mount under
threat of an arm-triangle choke. While the submission did not
materialize, he maintained positional dominance, dropped elbows and
crossed the finish line in front.
5. Power Surge
Akhmedov gained a foothold in the Professional Fighters League and
did so in exhilarating fashion, as he dispatched
Viktor
Pesta with punches in the first round of their PFL 1 pairing on
April 20, 2022 at Esports Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Pesta
checked out 85 seconds into Round 1. Roughly a minute into the
match, Akhmedov stepped into two overhand rights and staggered the
Sanford MMA export before backing him to the fence with a heavy
jab and another overhand. Pesta lunged at an attempted takedown out
of desperation, nosedived into the mat and returned to his feet
unaware. As soon as the Czech was upright, Akhmedov launched
another overhand right and connected with devastating consequences.
Pesta collapsed backward, his arms outstretched as referee Jacob
Montalvo moved in to dust the crime scene for prints.