Rizvan Kuniev Record: 13-3-1

Contender Series and UFC run

Kuniev's first crack at a UFC contract came on Dana White's Contender Series in September 2021, where he stopped Edivan Santos with third-round strikes but did not earn a deal. He returned to Eagle FC and submitted veteran Anthony Hamilton with a first-round guillotine in March 2022, then crossed into the PFL, where an April 2023 bout against Renan Ferreira was ruled a no-contest after being overturned. Persistence finally paid off in August 2024, when he returned to the Contender Series and blasted Hugo Cunha with a first-round knee-and-punches stoppage to secure his long-awaited UFC contract. His promotional run opened with a tough split-decision loss to former title challenger Curtis Blaydes in June 2025, but Kuniev answered in a major way in February 2026, outpointing the highly regarded Jailton Almeida over three rounds by unanimous decision to score the signature win of his UFC tenure and push into the divisional rankings.

Fighting style

Kuniev is a well-rounded heavyweight whose game starts with his physical frame and Sanda-bred striking but is anchored by a Dagestani wrestling base. Six of his wins have come by knockout and two by submission against four decisions – a 62% finish rate that reflects genuine power without sacrificing the patience to grind out rounds when needed. He is a strong positional wrestler with an excellent takedown game and stout takedown defense, and he has shown he can finish on the feet or on the mat, as the guillotine of Hamilton and the striking stoppages of Santos and Cunha demonstrate. Notably, none of his losses have come by finish; all three defeats are decisions, underlining a durability and toughness that has kept him competitive even against elite opposition like Blaydes.

Career highlights

• Signature UFC win over Jailton Almeida — a 2026 unanimous-decision victory over the highly ranked Jailton Almeida announced him as a heavyweight to watch.
• Contender Series breakthrough — a first-round stoppage of Hugo Cunha in 2024 finally earned the UFC contract that had eluded him for years.
• Wushu Sanda world champion — European and world titles in full-contact Sanda gave him a striking pedigree rare among Dagestani heavyweights before he ever turned to MMA.