Navid Zanganeh

Navid Zanganeh is an Iranian wrestler and former member of the Iranian U-23 freestyle wrestling team.

Wrestling career
Zanganeh wrestled for club Atrak Khorasan and represented Iran on the world stage.

During the 2018 Senior U23 World Championships in Bucharest Zanganeh earned a bronze medal after defeating Azerbaijani wrestler Ismail Abdullaev.

At the 2019 U-23 Senior Asian Championships Zanganeh won a silver medal after beating opponents from Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, and Kazakhstan before facing defeat in the finals.

The Takhti freestyle wrestling tournament took place on 7 and 8 Feb. 2019 with representatives from Azerbaijan, Turkey, Russia, Armenia, Hungary, the Netherlands, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan and Georgia. Zanganeh placed third and was a part of Iran's overall victory in the tournament.

Arrest and asylum in Canada
Zanganeh was shot at anti-government rally in Tehran and was subsequently arrested after being taken to hospital. He was detained for 15 days and was eventually released from Fashafaviye prison. Zanganeh was immediately released from his club Atrak Khorasan and was unable to wrestle for Iran. After the arrest was made public, Zanganeh emigrated to Canada in the hopes to resume his wrestling career representing Canada.

Violation of anti-doping rule and sanction
The Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES) gave an announcement which stated that Zanganeh was subjected to a four-year suspension due to a violation of anti-doping regulations. The violation stemmed from the detection of oxandrolone, a prohibited anabolic substance, in a urine sample of Zanganeh. The urine sample was collection during an in-competition sampling session on March 11, 2023. The sanction entails an ineligibility to participate in any sport signatory to the Canadian Anti-Doping Program (CADP) at any capacity (including training with teammates), and concludes on April 24, 2027.

Mixed martial arts career
Navid began his MMA career in Vancouver, Canada. His head coach is currently Dan Golkar out of Scorpion MMA in Pitt Meadows, British Columbia.