#2: Dzhamaludin Aliev
Age: 26
Representing: Turkey
Record: 11-0
Dzhamaludin: tough to spell but easy to watch. Aliev has cultivated a dynamic striking style that would make him an immediate fan-favorite in the UFC. He’s fearless in the cage and will use all sorts of kicks, knees, and elbows to complement his slick boxing and bring the fight to his opponents. However, he’s not a brawler and flows between these attacks while countering and blocking in rhythm. Aliev’s wrestling is mostly used as defense. He knows that opponents will be forced to test him there when faced with his striking skills. Clearly, the hours in the gym have paid off there as his sprawl is strong, he escapes clinches well, and when he decides to grapple offensively, he’s been composed and effective.
His most recent win came just a couple of weeks ago via D’Arce choke against Michel Lima (19-6), which was the first submission of his career. It was a clean and technical execution of a tricky move to pull off inside the cage. That’s a great sign for his BJJ development and overall well-rounded skillset.
Born in Dagestan but representing several countries over his career, Dzhamaludin will go anywhere to fight. So far he’s competed in Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Serbia, and Turkey while winning and defending titles for Serbian Battle Championship and Open FC. After four easy wins to start his career, he’s consistently faced experienced and skilled opponents (102-42-2 combined record) and finished them early in the fight.
The only opponent to force him to a decision was Vyacheslav Svischev (10-2), a great boxer whose hands made Aliev shoot frequent takedowns and work to take the back. He got gassed by R5 with that strategy but was still able to take top control late. From there, Aliev rained down big GnP to steal the round and secure a split decision victory. While that performance raised a mild cardio concern, it was three years ago and Aliev was early in his career. In most cases he finishes his opponents so early that the gas tank doesn’t enter the equation. With a win over former UFC fighter Francisco Figueiredo (13-5-1) on his resume from earlier in 2025, Aliev should get his chance at the big show in 2026.