Weight Class: Bantamweight
Record: 9-0
Age: 23
Height: 5’9”
Born In: Dagestan (Represents France)
Training Out Of: Fight Club Akhmat/Bangtao Muay Thai
Combined Opponent Records (at the time they fought): 27-12
Key Wins: Nurbolat Abu
Ilmadi Israilov returns to MMA for the first time since 2024 and will compete outside of ACA for the first time since 2022 when he and Deiby Tachon square off for the Jungle Strike Championship bantamweight belt on Saturday at JSC 4 in Nimes, France.
The 23-year-old won his professional debut via first-round submission in 2019 and went 4-0 before a layoff of more than two years. Joining ACA in 2022, Israilov further showed off his submission skills by putting Sergey Polatov unconscious with a rear naked choke at ACA Young Eagles 29.
Israilov’s first three wins in ACA Young Eagles all ended up coming via submission, and impressively via three different chokes. After kicking off 2024 with a unanimous decision against Kulmurat Orozov, his last appearance at ACA Young Eagles 49 saw him also get the nod from the judges against Nurbolat Abu, who came into the matchup with a 9-1 record.
A patient striker, Israilov relies heavily on his 1-2 and will throw the combination as both a lead and a counter. He’ll occasionally mix up his jab to the body as well as the head, and he’ll almost always answer with a combination of strikes when an opponent tries to throw anything at him.
Israilov also likes to utilize a step-up kick to the head and body with his lead leg, and he’ll occasionally switch to southpaw in order to throw up a rear high kick and land back in his natural orthodox stance. He also likes to mix in the odd spinning wheel kick, and if he feels an opponent is on the retreat he’ll start to increase his striking output quite a bit.
The 23-year-old is also very strong in the clinch and will immediately look to land knees to the head and body once he gets into close quarters. Clinches also open up opportunities for him to look for throws or trips, although he’s also happy to shoot for single and double leg takedowns on the fence or in open space.
As evidenced by all the submissions on his record, Israilov is at his best when he can bring a fight to the ground. He likes settling into half guard off of takedowns or scrambles and land frequent punches to the head and body of opponents while he looks for opportunities to move into mount, where he’ll rain down heavy punches and elbows.
Opponents that roll to their knees are in serious danger, as Israilov likes to take the back quickly and will try to keep the position even if the opposition gets back to their feet. The 23-year-old is also active with punches and occasional elbows from the back, as these attacks open up chances for him to slide an arm under the chin and end things with a rear naked choke.
Israilov has shown off good balance and solid takedown defense, but he can be brought down if he gets too overzealous with his striking and an opponent times their shot well as he comes in. He’s a submission threat off of his back and is always looking to create space, but he was held down for most of the final round in his last outing against Abu.
It’s exciting to see that a young prospect like Israilov is moving on from ACA, and this matchup with Tachon is a solid one for his first fight in more than a year and a half. I’m particularly interested to see how the work he’s been doing at Bangtao in Thailand is reflected in his striking, as he’s had a tendency to be more opportunistic on the feet instead of trying to really dictate exchanges with his opponents.
