Weight Class: Flyweight
Record: 7-0
Age: 28
Height: 5’6”
Born In: Kazakhstan
Training Out Of: Mergen Fight Club
Combined Opponent Records (at the time they fought): 13-4
Key Wins: N/A
After starting his professional MMA career with seven-straight wins and six finishes, Elaman Sayassatov challenges Bolat Zamanbekov for the Naiza FC flyweight belt tomorrow at Naiza FC 83.
Sayassatov began his pro career with Mergen FC in 2021 and stopped his first two opponents in the second round before improving to 3-0 with a third-round stoppage at Mergen FC 4 in 2023. Joining Naiza FC later that year, the 28-year-old only needed two minutes to knock out Omurbek Dosmat in his promotional debut before going the distance for the first time against Edvin Abbasov.
The undefeated flyweight returned to his finishing ways with a third-round submission at Naiza FC 69 before facing former Naiza FC strawweight titleholder Sagyn Kazbek last September. That fight ended when Kazbek suffered an elbow injury in the second round, but Sayassatov was clearly in control of things up to that point and looked well on his way to finding a victory even before the injury stoppage.
Although he doesn’t throw them as frequently as I’d like, Sayassatov has nasty outside low kicks that are capable of buckling the legs of his opponents. A diverse kicking game makes up the foundation of his striking style, as he’ll also throw up high kicks with both legs and loves to mix in spinning back kicks to the midsection and the occasional spinning hook kick to the head.
I’d like to see Sayassatov use his hands to set up some of those dynamic kicks more often, but he does do a good job of using his punches in combination when he decides to blitz forward on an opponent. He relies heavily on his lead hook as a counter when on the back foot and will also quickly follow that shot with a right straight if an opponent is still within his range at that point.
One of the 28-year-old’s most dangerous weapons are the knees that he’ll immediately start throwing up high when he’s able to establish head control during clinches. He’s also shown off strong takedown defense and is capable of bringing things to the ground himself, particularly when it’s late in a round and his opposition has settled into thinking that they’re just engaged in a straight-up striking battle.
Sayassatov has some brutal ground and pound and will start throwing elbows as soon as he’s able to establish top position. Opponents that roll to their knees will continue absorbing strikes and find little space to get up, as Sayassatov is a threat to snatch up a front choke and is also quick to try and take the back so he can continue softening them up with punches and look for openings to sink in a rear naked choke.
While he does some really fun things on the feet and is definitely a knockout threat, I’m a little surprised that Sayassatov hasn’t tried taking things to the ground with more urgency during some of his fights. He’s been able to largely dominate his opponents when he does get them on the mat, and he’s more than capable of ending things with ground and pound from there if he’s unable to find a submission.
Some of my concerns around Sayassatov’s striking likely stem from the fact that he frequently backs up in a straight line and has gotten hit very clean in several of his fights, but he’s shown off a solid chin and sometimes even seems to relish getting into a firefight.
Zamanbekov is the most experienced opponent that he’s faced up to this point, and a title-winning performance at Naiza FC 83 would firmly establish Sayassatov as a serious flyweight prospect to keep an eye on.
