Shamil Musaev (fighter)

Shamil Musaevich Musaev (Шамиль Мусаевич Мусаев; January 8, 1994) is a Russian mixed martial artist, who currently fights in the Welterweight division. He is European MMA champion (2016) & world MMA champion (2017) while serving as a member of the Russian national team during these tournaments. He is also the youngest ever winner of Season 4 of "Mix Fighters" series.

Musaev was also the victor of "Battle of Champions - 14: School vs School" where he defeated Muay Thai World Champ Ali Aliev in the final under modified MMA rules. In Wushu Sanda, he is two-time Senior European champion & one-time Junior World champion in Wushu Sanda.

Background
Musaev was born in January 8, 1994, in the fortress town of Kizlyar, in the Republic of Dagestan, Russia. As a six years old, he began to dabble himself in the modern Chinese martial art of Wushu Sanda. Musaev was mentored in this sports by coach Achalo Magomedovich Magomedaminov, who is "Honored Worker of Physical Culture and Sports of the Republic of Dagestan" & "Honored Trainer of the Russian Federation in Wushu Sanda". Achalo Magomedaminov himself, trained ten World champions, twenty European champions and other medalist in the combat sports of Wushu Sanda in 2017.

Musaev was drafted into "Akhmatov Sports Club" (SC Akhmatov) which is part of "Sports School of the Olympic Reserve Kizlyar" in their Wushu Sanda program. The "Akhmatov Sports Club" is named after the local businessman Ibragim Magomedovich Akhmatov, who is General Director of OJSC (Concern KEMZ), as he donated money for SC Akhmatov, and also sponsored students who participate in combat sports events (wrestling, ARB, Sambo, Muay Thai, Wushu Sanda, Taekwondo, Judo, Boxing and Kickboxing) at regional, national and international levels. The "Sports School of the Olympic Reserve Kizlyar" current director is Achalo Magomedaminov, who succeeded previous director, Gusein Gadzhimuradovich Magomedov, after his retirement.

Musaev studied in shkolu № 7 (School Number 7), which is part of Sports School of the Olympic Reserve, in his home town of Kizlyar, from which he graduated in 2008.

2012
On September 9, 2012 Shamil Musaev became the champion of Russia in Wushu Sanda in Moscow, Russia at 70 kg catagerogy for SC Akhmatov. While his fellow SC Akhmatov team member, Shamil Ramazanov won gold at 75 kg contest. This led to him and fellow Russian victors to qualify for Wushu Sanda World Championship in Macau, China that will be held from 19 to 25 September of the same year. To prepare for the Russian championship, Musaev and his Dagestani colleagues had previously training in fight camp in Terek country retreat near the town of Izberbash.

Literally few weeks later, Musaev became Junior World Champion in Wushu Sanda in his weight class of 70kg at Macau, China. Similarly his SC Akhmatov teammate Shamil Ramazanov also won Gold medal at 75 kg competition. Overall, Musaev and his Russian comrades won 4 gold, 5 silver and 3 bronze medals in the entire tournament.

2014
On March 27, 2014 Musaev won gold medal in 85 kg at Russian Wushu Sanda Championship in Moscow. His SC Akhmatov colleagues Shamil Ramaznov competed and won gold at lower weight to Musaev at 80 kg. While his other SC Akhmatov teammates Magomed Abdulkhalikov (65 kg), Ali Abdulkhalikov (70 kg) & Shamil Ramazanov (80 kg) all became gold medalist in their respective weight categories. 200 fighters competed in that edition of Russian championship, of which Dagestani contributed around 21 athletes. Among 11 weight categories the Dagestani team won 8 gold medals in this competition. While they won 5 silver medals and 2 bronze medals. As a result Dagestan team took first place in the podium, followed by the Central Federal District in second place and the Republic of Yakutia in third place. Some of the winners of this tournament would be nominated to represent team Russia in European Championship held in Bucharest, Romania, by the national team coach.

2015
On May 2015, Musaev (80 kg) and his SC Akhmatov colleague Ali Abdulkhalikov (75 kg) won gold medal in their respective weight categories Russian Wushu Championship in the city of Vladimir, Vladimir Oblast. They joined the winner podium with Wushu Sanda legends like Muslim Salikhov (85 kg) and Bozigit Ataev (90 kg+). Among all the winners, the national team coach, Dzhanhuvat Beletov was required to choose 5 of them to represent team Russia at Wushu World Championship in Jakarta, Indonesia. The fighters that coach Beletov chose were Ali Magomedov (60 kg), Kazbek Mamaev (65 kg), Ali Abdulkhalikov (75 kg), Muslim Salikhov (who replaced Shamil Musaev at 80 kg) and Arslan Bekterimov (who replaced Salikhov at 85 kg).

2016
On February 7, 2016, Musaev (80 kg) and his SC Akhmatov team members Magomed Abdulkhalikov (70 kg), Ali Abdulkhalikov (75 kg) & Rasul Omarov (85 kg) all became champions in their respective weight class at Dagestan Wushu Sanda Championship in the city of Izberbash. Wushu Sanda legend Bozigit Ataev (90 kg+) also won gold in the same tournament. The winners and runner-up all qualified for North Caucasian Federal District Championship, in the Dagestani city of Buynaksk to be held in March of the same year.

On May 20, 2016, Musaev (80 kg) and his colleagues in SC Akhmatov like Magomed Abdulkhalikov (70 kg), Ali Abdulkhalikov (75 kg) & Rasul Omarov (85 kg) won golds in European Wushu Sanda Championship held in the Moscow amongst the adult fighters. The Dagestani athletes won 18 gold medals out of 27 possible weight categories, and overall they have won 21 medals in the competition.

Literally 7 days later, on May 27 of the same year, Musaev gained Bronze medal in Russian Amateur MMA competition at Lightweight category, thus qualifying for the WMMAA European Championship in Saint Petersburg. Both him and his SC Akmatov/Golden Team colleague Ali Abdulkhalikov lost to Murad Ramazanov in semi-final and final respectively.

On October 21, 2016, Musaev and his comrades won all 7 gold medals out of 7 in WMMAA European Championship in Saint Petersburg, where he (Musaev) beat German fighter Michael Ovsjannikov in the final match. As a result of this achievement, Musaev was granted the title of "International Master of Sports in Amateur MMA" by Russian sports ministry.

2017
On May 11, 2017, Musaev again became bronze medalist at Welterweight division, in Russian Amateur MMA Championship held in the city of Rostov-on-Don, Rostov Oblast. The eventual winner in Welterweight catagerogy was future two-times PFL World Champion Maogmed Magomedkerimov. Musaev teammate Ali Abdulkhalikov (SC Akmatov/Golden Team) won gold at lightweight division. Musaev ultimately replaced Magomedkerimov to represent team Russia at WMMAA World Championship in Kazakhstan.

On October 7, 2017, Musaev (Welterweight) and his colleague Ali Abdulkhalikov (Lightweight) both won gold medals in WMMAA World Championship held in the city of Astana, Kazakhstan. In this tournament team Russia broke the previous record where all eight of their athletes went into finals, thereby winning seven gold medals and one silver in the process.

2021
Finally on March 2021, Musaev became Russian Wushu Sanda champion for the 6th time after winning the tournament in Moscow.

2022
December 2, 2022, Musaev took part in modified MMA competition called "Battle of Champions -14: School Vs School" which was hosted in Luzhniki Palace of Sports, in the city of Moscow. This was organized by The Russian Union of Martial Arts (RSBI) under which 8 fighters representing 8 different schools of Martial Arts fighting each other for the championship belt; these included fighting disciplines like sambo, Thai boxing, army hand-to-hand combat (arb), kudo, all-style karate, hand-to-hand combat, wushu sanda and grappling. The entire event was sponsored by United Metallurgical Company (OMK). The first edition of "Battle of Champions" took place in the year of 2006. This event was organized to determine which form of these 8 martial arts would win in a modified MMA ruleset.

A total of eight knockout fights took place. The bout took place in the form of three elimination rounds of three minutes each. In the ring, the combatants were allowed to strike in all the parts of the body that was sanctioned in mixed martial arts ruleset, as well as to perform all types of throws used in grappling sports. Fighting on the ground  was limited to 20 Seconds at most. Ground and pound was not allowed. The fighters are encouraged to use chokes and leg locks instead.

The fighters who took part in this tournament were David Hasanyan (Master of Sports in ARB), Vladimir Ivanov (world champion in All-style Karate), Shamidkhan Magomedov (Master of Sports in Grappling), Victor Samarkin (Master of Sports in Kudo), Movsar Baimakhanov (2-time world champion & European champion in Hand-to-Hand Combat), Ivan Lozhkin (International Master of Sports in Sambo) and Ali Aliev (World champion in Muay Thai and WAKO Kickboxing World Champ).

Both of the Dagestani fighter namely Shamil Musaev and Ali Aliev reached the final match of the tournament. Both of them weighed in 80 kg for the final bout. Musaev resorted to wrestling, often taking down Aliev to the ground. And Aliev got the better of Musaev in standing position. Near the end of the bout Musaev was left with a broken nose. But Musaev took the control of the battle,with his pressure and reliance on wrestling. Ultimately the judges awarded the unanimous decision victory to Musaev in the end. Musaev was awarded 3 million rubles, a certificate and a championship belt for his achievements. Musaev was then greeted by friends, family and teammates from Golden Team after arriving at Makhachkala airport.

Early career
Musaev made his professional MMA debut in the welterweight division of regional promotion in 2013, defeating his fellow Russian fighter of Tajik origin Muslim Mubarakshoev, via TKO (Doctor Stoppage), round number one of the fight. After three consecutive wins, he joined the Russian mixed martial arts organization M-1 Global in 2014. It was during this time, Musaev took part in season 4 of "Mix Fighters" Project, which was MMA-based reality Tv show similar to "The Ultimate Fighters" in Welterweight division.

"Mix Fighter" Project was created by "Boyets" television network in collaboration with M-1 Global. MMA legend Fedor Emelianenko, was the face of the show, while Russian pop singer and actress Alina Artts acted as the main television presenter of the show. Whereas Ivan Blackman (real name Ivan Vladimirovich Traore) would act as primary ring announcer for the fight matches.

Originally about 3000 fighters from fourteen different countries like Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Holland, USA, China, Morocco, Spain, Greece, Venezuela and Brazil applied for this show competition. 40 fighters were selected based on their sporting performances. Among them only 18 fighters were allowed to take part in "Mix Fighters" reality tv show after winning their qualifying battles.

After this Musaev was drafted into "Team Mix Fighters" who would compete with the "Team World" for the title. "Team Mix Fighters" mostly composed of fighters from former Soviet republics like Belarus, Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan. While "Team World" composed of combatants from all around the world, though some Russian and Bulgarian athletes were also nominated for the fight for "Team World". The main mentor for "Team World" was Belarusian Kickboxing legend, Alexey Kudin and for "Team Mix Fighters" it was former M-1 Global Heavyweight champion Kenny Garner from America. The show logistics was managed by "Chinook Fight Club" which was led by Sergei Ivanovich.

The show finals was hosted in Minsk-Arena and attracted sixteen thousands spectators. This show was telecasted on small screen by "Boyets" television network. Musaev won all 4 of his bouts and thereby becoming the youngest ever winner in "Mix Fighters" show history, thereby earning a ceremonial championship belt for his achievement. Musaev thanked his Wushu Sanda coach Achalo M. Magomedaminov, director of his former school Gusein G. Magomedov and Ibragim M Akhmatov (founder of SC Akhmatov) during his post fight interview. The Rector of Russian University of Cooperation, Vladimir Anatolyevich Krivoshey personally congratulated Musaev (who was the student of this university) and his coach Vladimir Hosiya for this achievement.

After this, Musaev fought for various mixed martial arts promotions across Russia.

Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki (KSW)
In 2019, Musaev signed a contract with leading European promotion, KSW. In his debut fight on the KSW 48 card, he was booked to fight against the former TFL federation lightweight champion, Hubert Szymajda, on April 27th of the same year. However, on the day of weigh-in, Szymajda was fined 30% of his fight purse after missing his contractual weight. In the end, Musaev defeated Szymajda via TKO, after series of punches from a crucifix position on the ground, which the Polish fighter was unable to reasonably defend himself from.

On December 7, 2019, at the KSW 52 event in the Silesian city of Gliwice, Musaev was set to fight against Grzegorz Szulakowski, who was a former contender for the KSW lightweight belt. He knocked out Szulakowski, with a spinning backfist.

In August 2020, he became the next contender for the KSW lightweight belt, against then the reigning World Champion, Mateusz "Gamer" Gamrot, as a headlining fight on KSW 54 card. This was suppose to be farewell title defense fight, for the "Gamer" Gamrot, for the KSW organization. Unfortunately, just before his title bout against Gamrot, he injured his knee, was therefore forced to withdraw from the event entirely.

His next match took place on January 30, 2021 at  KSW 58 card in Lodz, where he was booked against former Titan FC Welterweight champion Uroš Juricic of Slovenia. There, he won the fight via unanimous decision, thereby handing the Slovenian Juricic the first loss of his professional career. A fight broke out between the players after the verdict was announced. Despite the huge scandal, both fighters received financial bonuses in the Fight of the Night category, but other financial penalties were also imposed for inappropriate conduct. As Musaev was fined 50% of his match salary, while Juricic was levied 30% of his fight income. These fined money was than donated by KSW organization for the treatment of young girls namely Pola Omielanczuk & Laura Paczula. Pola is the daughter of Polish MMA veteran, Daniel Omielanczuk.

On October 23rd, 2021, Musaev was booked in a bout, against the 2012 FILA Grappling World Championships bronze medalist, Michał Pietrzak of Poland, at the KSW 64 event in Atlas Arena, in the city of Łódź. Musaev was deducted points for a fence grab in round number one of the fight. The fight, ultimately ended in a majority draw. One of the judges saw the bout as a win for Musaev with 29-27 scoreline, while the other two scored the fight as a draw with 28-28 scores.

Musaev was scheduled to have a rematch with Michał Pietrzak at the KSW 68 event, in the city Radom, on March 19, 2022, but due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the KSW organization made the decision to ultimately cancel the contract of Russian-Dagestani fighter.

Russian Cagefighting Championship (RCC)
After almost a two-year hiatus due to not having the opportunity to fight in KSW, he returned to the octagon on July 28, 2023, where he faced his compatriot and former M-1 Global Welterweight champion Alexey Kunchenko in headlining fight of the RCC 16 event, which took place in Kunchenko's hometown of Tyumen in Russia. Kunchenko himself was coming in with a victory over ex-UFC fighter Gleison Tibau before this bout.

Less than 90 seconds into the match, Musaev fired a spinning back kick into guts of Kunchenko and finished him off with a series of punches that gave him victory via TKO. After this fight, an emotional Kunchenko announced retirement from the sports of MMA. After being informed of this, Musaev shared his remorse that Kunchenko retired after this fight; as he wanted his compatriot to fight one more time, win and then retire on a high note.

Professional Fighters League (PFL)
On March 11, 2024, the US based MMA promotion, Professional Fighters League announced that Musaev would set to compete in the PFL's $1 million welterweight tournament. In his first fight for his new employer, he was set faced against the former Interim Bellator MMA welterweight champion, Logan "Storm" Storley. The match took place  during the PFL 3: Koreshkov vs. Umalatov card held in Wintrust Arena, in the city Chicago on April 19th. Musaev defeated Storley via knockout in less than 30 seconds of the second round.

On June 28 of the same year Musaev faced former WMMAA World Lightweight champion, Murad Ramazanov at PFL 6 (2024) held at the Sanford Pentagon stadium, in the city of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. They previously fought each other on May 27, 2016, in an amateur MMA tournament semi-final in the city of Orenburg, in which Ramazanov came out as a winner. Musaev won the fight via TKO in the second round.

Personal life
Musaev belongs to the Avar ethnic group of Dagestan. His birthplace Kizlyar, is one of the few towns in Dagestan, that has ethnic Russian majority, who are 35.5% of the population. His own people, the Avars, make up 25.4% of the city's total population.

Some sources began to point out false information that Musaev was in fact born in the city of Mytishchi, Moscow Oblast, Russia. This misinformation rose from the fact that he later trained and fought for the MMA gym, Golden Team in the city of Mytishchi. As a result, he currently resides in the city of Mytishchi.

After Musaev successful debut fight for KSW organization against Hubert Szymajda, he was given the nickname, "Cichy Zabójca" (The Silent Assassin), by the Polish fans; due to his tendency of minimal usage of words, during his interviews. He also known by a similar nickname, "Besshumnyy Ubiytsa" (Бесшумный убийца) by the Russian MMA fans as well.

Musaev is represented in the sports by Ivan Dijaković, who is also one of the two co-founder of the eminent MMA training center, UFD Gym of Germany. It was this association with Ivan Dijaković, that Musaev became fast friends with current UFC fighter Abus Magomedov, who also serves as Musaev's cornerman in some of his fights.

Musaev Wushu Sanda team, SC Akhmatov, won the most medals in "European Wushu Sanda Championship" 2016, where they won 4 gold & 1 silver medals. As a result, SC Akhmatov, was given the "highest standard" achievement award, for which they beat estimable Wushu Sanda schools like Five Directions of the World, SC Bekenez, SC Shanavazov & SC "Vozrozhdenie for the prize.

At SC Akhmatov which is Wushu Sanda gym in the city of Kizlyar, Musaev was teammates with fighters like Magomed Abdulkhalikov, Ali Abdulkhalikov, Shamil Ramazanov & Rasul Omarov. Some of Musaev's SC Akhmatov teammates like Shamil Ramazanov & Ali Abdulkhalikov both joined him in MMA gym "Golden Team".

At Golden Team Musaev is also teammates with notable MMA fighters like Magomed Ismailov, Anatoly Malykhin (first and only three-division MMA World Champion) and Gadzhi Omargadzhiev. The founder and also the head coach of all the fighters at Golden Team is Vladimir Hosiya. Vladimir Hosiya was at one point was national team coach of Amateur MMA Team of Russia and for his services, he was awarded "Honored Coach of Russia In Amateur MMA" by the Russian sports ministry. MMA legend Fedor Emelianenko called Golden Team, the best MMA gym in Central Russia.

The origin of notable Russian MMA gym, Golden Team, started off Sports Club inside the "Russian University of Cooperation" in the city of Mytishchi. Shamil Musaev was in fact a student of Russian University of Cooperation where he fought for Golden Team in MMA tourneys, back when it was just a sporting club inside the said university.

Musaev also fought in United World Wrestling sanctioned ruleset, no-gi grappling competitions, while being a student of Russian University of Cooperation, representing Golden Team sports clubs, such as winning medal at "Moscow Region Grappling Championship" in February 2015.

Musaev has earned the title of "International Master of Sports in Wushu Sanda" due to his numerous achievements in the said martial art. He also has "International Master of Sports in Amateur MMA". This makes Musaev one of the few combat athletes to have two separate "International Master of Sports" titles for two different combat sports. In addition to these accolades he is also qualified as "Candidate for Master of Sports" both in freestyle wrestling and Combat Sambo. So far he is not been conferred "Master of Sports" title in these combat arts.

Wushu sanda
1x Junior World Championship of Wushu Sanda

2x European Championship of Wushu Sanda

6x All-Russian Championship of Wushu Sanda

Amateur mixed martial arts
1X WMMAA European Championship

1X WMMAA World Championship

Professional mixed martial arts
1X Mix Fighter: Welterweight Tournament

The Russian Union of Martial Arts (RSBI)
1X Battle of Champions 14; School Vs School