by Abdulrashid Sadulaev reminded the world how good he is in the opening round of the senior world championships on Wednesday.
The 28-year-old from Dagestan, who has won two Olympic gold medals, produced a dominant performance against American David Taylor in one of the most anticipated wrestling matches in recent history. Sadulaev won 7-0 and advanced to the next round of the tournament. At the same time, he added another Olympic legend to his resume after Taylor won gold for the United States at the 2020 Games.
The bout took place at 92kg – a weight class not present in the Olympics – with Taylor moving up from his usual weight of 86kg and Sadulaev falling back after dominating the 97kg class in recent years.
An early takedown attempt from Taylor led to the first score of the match as Sadulaev reached out and switched positions to quickly score two points. Another snap down, fell behind as Sadulaev scored two more points at the end of the first period as he took a 4-0 lead.
The second period was similar: Sadulaev scored a point on a push-out, forcing Taylor off the mat. He then turned things around again and secured the last two points of the game. The final score ended 7-0, with Sadulaev making a big statement by defeating Taylor.
The highly anticipated match came after Sadulaev, a Russian athlete, was forced to forego the 2024 Olympics as he was not allowed to take part in the Paris Games following the invasion of his home country in Ukraine. While many Russians eventually competed for various countries or appeared as neutral athletes, Sadulaev was one of the few wrestlers who was not allowed to compete at all.
Sadulaev’s performance also marked his return to the winning list after his appearance at the 2023 World Championships ended in disappointment when he sustained an injury and ultimately suffered a loss to Akhmed Tazhudinov in the 97kg final. Tazhudinov ultimately won gold at the 2024 Olympics with a one-sided performance in the field, including a win over American Kyle Snyder, who won a gold medal of his own in 2016.
With the win, Sadulaev stormed back to the top of the rankings while making a compelling argument that he may be the best wrestler of this entire generation.
As for Taylor, he’s coming off a defeat after missing the 2024 Olympics following his shock loss to his former Penn State colleague Aaron Brooks at the U.S. Olympics. Brooks took home a bronze medal in Taylor’s absence.
