Weight Class: Bantamweight
Record: 4-0
Age: 25
Height: 5’9”
Born In: Russia (Represents Russia and Tajikistan)
Training Out Of: N/A
Combined Opponent Records (at the time they fought): 8-8
Key Wins: N/A
After starting his pro career off with four finishes, Anushevron Tukhtaev returns this weekend for the first time since late 2024 to meet Yui Jong Kim at JCK Fight Night 117.
Tukhtaev began his amateur career in 2018 and collected three victories before he participated in the Amateur Russia MMA Championship in 2021. The 25-year-old defeated two opponents on the opening night before taking a unanimous decision over Sergey Shirkunov the following day to advance to the bantamweight finals, where he lost to highly-regarded prospect Shakhban Gapizov in his final amateur outing.
Tukhtaev made his pro debut just shy of two years later and stopped Danil Sulenin with a head kick in the opening round. Continuing to fight under the Open Fighting Championship banner in Russia, the undefeated bantamweight also stopped Timur Bangiev and Argen Chyrakbaev with strikes to close out 2023 before he submitted Maxim Konradi with a first-round twister in his most recent outing.
Preferring to be keep his opponents on the back foot, Tukhtaev constantly looks to walk forward and will attack both the inside and outside of his opponent’s lead leg while throwing out frequent feints with his hands. He rarely even commits to a jab with his lead hand, preferring to pump it out in order to get his opposition to bite before he follows up with an overhand right or right straight.
The 25-year-old showed in his second pro fight with Bangiev that he does pack some serious power in that right hand, and he’ll also mix in kicks to the body or head when he has an opponent covered up on the fence. Aside from the occasional spinning wheel kick, his most dynamic move is a spinning back kick to the midsection that he’ll immediately follow with a spinning back fist in the other direction.
Tukhtaev does a good job of punching into takedown attempts along the fence, and he’ll also dive on the legs if an opponent is being aggressive and won’t him dictate the pace of the striking exchanges. He showed off some very impressive scrambling skills during his fight with Chyrakbaev, maintaining dominant position and fighting off submission attempts until Chyrakbaev started to slow and Tukhtaev was able to finish him with a shot to the midsection while he still had his back on the mat.
Although he hasn’t finished anyone with it yet, Tukhtaev likes to immediately look for an arm triangle choke when he finds himself in top position after a scramble. He maintains very strong top pressure and loves landing knees to the body from side control, and if an opponent works to their knees they risk having their back taken by a fighter that won his last bout via twister.
He hasn’t faced stellar competition as a pro, but the fact that Tukhtaev’s lone loss between his pro and amateur careers came against Gapizov says a lot about his potential. His Instagram also shows that he’s getting work in with a number of top-level fighters, so the drive to keep improving and test himself is always great to see from a fighter of his age.
Tukhtaev’s JCK debut this weekend will hopefully signal the start of a more active period for the 25-year-old. He’s a lot of fun to watch and really doesn’t give his opponents any sort of room to breathe once a fight gets going. I expect he’ll probably put on another dominant showing this weekend against Kim, which will mark his first featherweight outing since his second amateur fight back in 2019.