WW World Cup: Five must-watch bouts

Tuesday, November 29, 2022 - 09:19 By Vinay Siwach

CORALVILLE, US (November 23) -- The women's World Cup will be held alongside the freestyle one on December 10 and 11 in Coralville. With two days of intense wrestling action, a few match-ups are expected to light up things at the Xtreme Arena in Coralville.

The top five teams from the World Championships in Belgrade along with the All-World Team will assemble for the two-day tournament. The top team from the World Championships Japan will be joined by China, the USA, Ukraine and Mongolia.

Six teams are placed in two groups with Japan, Mongolia and Ukraine placed in Group A and the USA is joined by China and the All-World Team. Even before the final fixture, some mouth-watering clashes are expected in the group duals.

Here are five bouts that are a must-watch for the fans:

Jacarra WINCHESTER (USA) is a 2019 world champion at 55kg. (Photo: UWW / Kostadin Andonov)

55kg: Oleksandra KHOMENETS (UKR) vs Jacarra WINCHESTER (USA)

It may need the aligning of the stars for this bout to happen but a potential match-up between young star Khomenets and former world champion Winchester at 55kg is one of the top clashes to watch at the World Cup. Khomenets reached the final of the World Championships in Belgrade before coming up short against Olympic champion Mayu SHIDOCHI (JPN). Winchester, despite an injury, reached the bronze medal bout and led before suffering a fall.

If the two meet, Khomenets counter-attacking style will be put to test as Winchester likes to build an early lead. The bout may see a slow start but expected some tight defense and a fierce battle as the two like to go for the attacks till the clock expires.

62kg: Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (UWW) vs Tserenchimed SUKHEE (MGL)

Tynybekova did not have a strong season, even missing out on a world medal. But the two-time world champion will be keen to end the season on a high. If it does happen, a bout against Sukhee will test Tynybekova who will start as the favorite. This year, Sukhee began on an impressive note, winning the Yasar Dogu Ranking Series and was a medal contender at the World Championships. But she fell in the opening round after a close 9-8 loss against Xiaojuan LUO (CHN).

That makes both wrestlers hungry for positive results before the end of the year. While Tynybekova has a solid defense, Sukhee has displayed an ability to secure falls from any position. This will be a challenge for Tynybekova as she has been struggling against the younger crop of wrestlers this year.

68kg: Irina RINGACI (MDA) vs Feng ZHOU (CHN)

Ringaci will be one of the biggest names in the All-World team heading to Iowa. And she will have added responsibility to take her team to the final being a former world champ and a bronze medalist from Belgrade. But with China clubbed in the same group, she will have to go past Zhou. The two met in the bronze medal bout in Belgrade and Ringaci won via fall. Zhou will be looking to avenge that 51-second loss. She was looking to throw Ringaci from a bodylock position but the latter had her arm around Zhou's neck and reversed the position with a headlock.

Having wrestled each other, the two will have their task cut out at the World Cup.

72kg: Amit ELOR (USA) vs Zhamila BAKBERGENOVA (UWW)

A rematch and that too of a World Championships final can only be better. The USA's star wrestler Elor will be up against Bakbergenova when the USA and All-World team clash at the World Cup. Elor defeated Bakbergenova in the final of 72kg in Belgrade to capture her first world title. She caught Bakbergenova in a leg lace and finished the bout in a minute and 13 seconds. Elor will look to repeat the result in her home country even as Bakbergenova hopes to figure out a new way to counter Elor's dominance on the mat.

Bakbergenova not only has to find ways to attack, but she will also have to break Elor's strong defense. Elor, time and again, has shown how to come out of danger positions without giving up a point. Her only close bout in the last two years was the semifinal in Belgrade against the returning world champion Masako FUIRICHI (JPN). Elor won that 3-2.

Yasemin ADAR (TUR) won the 76kg gold in Belgrade. (Photo: UWW / Kostadin Andonov)

76kg: Yasemin ADAR (UWW) vs Yelena MAKOYED (USA)

Another clash on the cards in Iowa may see world champion Adar face Makoyed. Since becoming Turkiye's first-ever female Olympic medalist in wrestling in Tokyo, Adar won her second world title in Belgrade. As the leader of the All-World team in Iowa, Adar will look to use her experience to guide the team. On the mat, she will likely face Makoyed who showed stunning form in 2022. At the Matteo Pellicone, she won the gold after wins over established stars in Martina KUENZ (AUT), Epp MAE (EST), Francy RAEDELT (GER) and former U23 world champion Anastasiya ALPYEYEVA (UKR) in the final. She won another Ranking Series gold in Tunisia by beating Dymond GUILFORD (USA). In the semifinal, she pinned world silver medalist Samar HAMZA (EGY).

Adar and Makoyed will be a thrilling clash with both expected to leave everything on the mat. Given the quality of the teams, it may come to this bout for a place in the final of the World Cup, adding value to an already important bout.

2026 Muhamet Malo

Sadulaev Returns to Tirana as Stacked 97kg Field Awaits

Friday, February 20, 2026 - 14:01 By Vinay Siwach

TIRANA, Albania (February 20) -- For four years the 97kg weight class was considered the premier one in international wrestling. Then all of a sudden it was not. Rivalries is what makes divisions and following the absence of Abdulrashid SADULAEV (UWW), the 97kg category had lost one half of it's.

Sadulaev's rivalry with Kyle SNYDER (USA) had begun in 2017, peaked at the Tokyo Olympics and just when it seemed the Russian was emerging dominant, he disappeared from the scene.

Then Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN) came and went. Snyder picked up two world titles in Sadulaev's absence. Newer wrestlers threatened but none appeared to be as good as Sadulaev and Snyder.

Slowly other weight classes gave fans more. Like 86kg with David TAYLOR (USA) and Hassan YAZDANI (IRI) becoming the two pillars. 65kg was the deepest weight every year. In fact, no world or Olympic champion has won the gold medal consecutively at 65kg since 2008.

At 74kg, shake-up kept happening with Jordan BURROUGHS (USA) making way for Kyle DAKE (USA). But Zaurbek SIDAKOV (UWW) was the leader until Razambek JAMALOV (UZB), Chermen VALIEV (ALB), and Kota TAKAHASHI (JPN) came along.

But 97kg is back in the spotlight.

Five months after he became the world champion, Snyder will be part of a new chapter of the 97kg series as Sadulaev returns to competition in this weight class after more than two years.

Wrestling at the Muhamet Malo Ranking Series event in Tirana, Albania, Sadulaev will join Snyder, Magomedkhan MAGOMEDOV (AZE), Rizabek AITMUKHAN (KAZ), Batyrbek TSUKALOV (SVK), Mukhamed KHANIEV (UWW), among others. If Sadulaev and Snyder clash, it will be their first match since the 2021 World Championships final in Oslo, Norway.

Snyder is still the rock he is, pressuring wrestlers into giving up at his pace. It is how he won his fourth world title in Zagreb. He easily overpowers everyone except Sadulaev.

But will Sadulaev be at his best? The 29-year-old last competed at the 2024 Non-Olympic World Championships, winning gold at 92kg after that epic semifinal against Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IRI). From his social media, Sadulaev seems to be in shape, sharing videos of his training from the gym, mat and even outdoors. He also had an interesting training session with Greco-Roman Olympic champion Musa EVLOEV (UWW), who has now decided to skip the event after initially registering.

The challengers will definitely have their chances in Tirana. Aitmukhan leads the pack, spurred by his victory over Tazhudinov at the Islamic Solidarity Games 2025 in October. The 2023 world champion at 92kg has slowly improved and was fifth at the World Championships.

Olympic bronze medalist Magomedov will be another threat but his struggles with conditioning are evident from past tournaments. Khaniev, a 92kg silver medalist at U23 World Championships, is another exciting talent making his debut at 97kg. With veterans in the mix, Khaniev has to find a way to move past them.

Arsenii DZHIOEV (AZE) defeated Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IR) at 86kg at the ISG 2025. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

A few other weight classes will see match-ups that may or may not occur again.

World bronze medalist Arsenii DZHIOEV (AZE) starts his 2026 season at 86kg. He defeated Ghasempour for a tactical victory at the ISG 2025 in Riyadh. At the World Championships, he dropped his quarterfinal to Hayato ISHIGURO (JPN), 13-8, before returning to win the bronze medal.

Dzhioev will be wary of two wrestlers in particular -- Kyle DAKE (USA) and Ibragim KADIEV (UWW). Dake, a world champion at both 74kg and 79kg, will make his first international appearance at 86kg and first since the 2024 Paris Olympics. Dake, who will turn 35 on February 25, is still adjusting to the new weight and Tirana will be a huge test.

Kadiev, a former U20 world champion, lost a close bout to Ghasempour at the World Championships but has what it takes to go all the way in Tirana.

Earlier in February, former world silver medalist at 79kg Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO) impressed with a silver medal performance in Zagreb. The same was not true for 79kg world champion Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE) who made his 86kg debut. Both will return at 86kg in Tirana. Another wrestler moving up is Alp Arslan BEGENJOV (TKM), a former U20 world champion at 79kg. Veteran of this weight, Osman GOCEN (TUR), would like to disrupt the order as well.

Zavur UGUEV (UWW), world champion at 61kg, is the favorite in Tirana. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

World champion Zavur UGUEV (UWW) will be at 61kg and the favorite despite the presence of Zelimkhan ABAKAROV (ALB) and world bronze medalist Gulomjon ABDULLAEV (UZB).

Bekzat ALMAZ UULU (KGZ), world silver medalist from 57kg, will also try his hand at 61kg. Zagreb Open gold medalist Austin DESANTO (USA) is also among the names at 61kg.

Former 61kg world champion Vitali ARUJAU (USA) is moving to 65kg. He is expected to have a challenging field though. World bronze medalist Umidjon JALOLOV (UZB) will be the biggest threat as he begins the new season. U23 world champion and Zagreb Open champion SUJEET (IND) has also entered the second straight Ranking Series event.

U23 world bronze medalist Bilol SHARIP UULU (KGZ), who lost the semifinals to Jalolov, world fifth-placer Peiman BIABANI (CAN), and former U20 world champion Mohit KUMAR (IND) are also part of the weight class.

European champion at 65kg Ibragim IBRAGIMOV (UWW) will be wrestling at 70kg in Tirana. He had a rather underwhelming World Championships, losing the bronze medal bout to Jalolov. In Tirana, he will be checked by Asian champion Ernazar AKMATALIEV (KGZ), who was once the most versatile wrestler but has faded a little recently.

Austin GOMEZ (MEX) and Islam DUDAEV (ALB) are also at 70kg and the former can run through the field on his day.

Azerbaijan will have a domestic battle at 74kg as Turan BAYRAMOV (AZE) will be challenged by 70kg U23 world champion Kanan HEYBATOV (AZE). The jump to 74kg from Heybatov sets up an intense battle in Azerbaijan as both eye the spot on the European and World Championships teams later. However, the weight difference may give Bayramov the edge.

But both also have to face competition from former world medalist Yones EMAMI (IRI), Asian silver medalist Orozobek TOKTOMAMBETOV (KGZ), and Inalbek SHERIEV (UWW), a 2024 world bronze medalist at 70kg.

Iran will hope that Amirhossein FIROUZPOUR (IRI), one of their choices at 92kg, returns with a gold medal, just like Mobin AZIMI (IRI) did at the Zagreb Open. Azimi, however, lost his Nelson bracket bout to world champion Trent HIDLAY (USA) before the American forfeited the final.

The 125kg weight class will throw a few battles. World silver medalist Giorgi MESHVILDISHVILI (AZE) will be the favorite in a field that also has Mason PARRIS (USA), Wyatt HENDRICKSON (USA), Khasanboy RAKHIMOV (UZB), and Abdulla KURBANOV (UWW).

Freestyle action will kick off the Muhamet Malo Ranking Series 2026 on February 25 in Tirana on UWW+. Click here for full schedule. Click here for Mumahet Malo 2026 entries.

WW World Cup: Five must-watch bouts

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Sadulaev Returns to Tirana as Stacked 97kg Field Awaits