Marat Gafurov

Marat Gafurov (Russian: Марат Гафуров; born November 21, 1984) is a Russian professional mixed martial artist, who competes in the Featherweight and Lightweight divisions of Absolute Championship Akhmat (ACA). A professional MMA competitor for 12 years, Gafurov competed for the M-1 Global and ONE Championship, where he was the former M-1 Global Featherweight Champion and ONE Featherweight World Champion.

Early career
Gafurov made his debut at Krasnodar Challenger Cup - Mix Fight 3 on June 4, 2010, against Shamil Gadzhiev. he won a fight by Submission in first round.

M-1 Global
Gafurov faced Vugar Bakhshiev for the inaugural M-1 Global Featherweight Championship at M-1 Challenge 35 on November 15, 2012, in Saint Petersburg, Russia. He won by a first round Submission.

ONE Championship
Gafurov made his ONE debut against Rob Lisita in the main event of ONE FC: Roar of the Tigers on October 17, 2014. He won by first-round submission.

Gafurov faced Ev Ting at ONE: Warrior's Quest on May 22, 2015. He defeated Ting via first-round submission.

ONE Featherweight World Champion
Gafurov received his first title shot when he faced Martin Nguyen for the interim ONE Featherweight World Championship at ONE: Odyssey of Champions on September 27, 2015. Gafurov would set the record for fastest submission in ONE Championship history at 41 seconds and won the interim title.

Gafurov would face Jadamba Narantungalag in a title unification bout at ONE: Dynasty of Champions (Beijing II) on November 21, 2015. Gafurov won by fourth-round submission via rear-naked choke to become the undisputed ONE Featherweight World Champion.

Gafurov made his first title defense against Kazunori Yokota at ONE: Kingdom of Champions on March 27, 2016. He won by second-round submission via rear-naked choke to retain the ONE Featherweight World Championship.

Gafurov rematched Jadamba Narantungalag in his second title defense at ONE: Defending Honor on November 11, 2016. He defeated Narantungalag by first-round technical submission via rear-naked choke to retain the title.

Gafurov made his third title defense in a rematch against Martin Nguyen at ONE: Quest for Greatness on August 18, 2017. He lost the title by second-round technical knockout and suffered his first professional loss in MMA competition.

Post-title reign
After losing the ONE Featherweight title, Marat Gafurov faced Emilio Urrutia at ONE: Heroes of Honor on April 20, 2018. He defeated Urrutia by first-round technical submission via arm-triangle choke.

Gafurov suffered his second professional loss when he lost to Koyomi Matsushima by first-round technical knockout at ONE: Conquest of Heroes on September 22, 2018.

Marat Gafurov defeated Tetsuya Yamada by unanimous decision at ONE: For Honor on May 3, 2019.

Lightweight (170 lb) debut
Marat Gafurov made his Lightweight (170 lbs) debut against Iuri Lapicus at ONE: Warrior's Code on February 7, 2020, where he lost by first-round submission via rear-naked choke.

Gafurov defeated Lowen Tynanes by split decision at ONE: Collision Course on December 18, 2020.

Marat Gafurov lost to Ok Rae-Yoon by unanimous decision at ONE on TNT 3 on April 21, 2021.

On July 22, 2022, Marat Gafurov defeated Ariel Sexton by third-round technical knockout at ONE 159.

Absolute Championship Akhmat
On January 9, 2024 it was announced that Gafurov has signed a deal with Absolute Championship Akhmat (ACA).

Gafurov made his ACA debut against Gábor Boráros at ACA 172 on March 9, 2024, where he won by first-round submission via armbar.

Professional grappling career
Gafurov will be representing Dagestan Combat Club in the 83kg division at the AIGA Champions League qualifying round in Turkey on March 2-5, 2024.

Championship and accomplishments

 * ONE Championship
 * ONE Featherweight World Championship (One time)
 * Two successful defense
 * M-1 Global
 * M-1 Global Featherweight Championship (One time)
 * Two successful defense