Makhmud Muradov biography: 13 things about 1st Uzbek UFC fighter

full name: Makhmud Muradov (Маҳмуд Мурадов)
fight name: Mach
residences: Bukhara, Uzbekistan / Prague-West, Czech Republic
height: 6’2″
weight division: middleweight
current promotion: UFC
pro MMA record: 26-8

Makhmud Muradov is a Tajik-Uzbek-Czech professional mixed martial artist. He is 6’2″ tall and he competes in the middleweight division.

Born in Dushanbe, Tajikistan to a Tajik father and a Uzbek mother, Muradov is fluent in Uzbek, Russian, Czech, Polish and English. He has one brother.

Currently, Muradov is signed with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, which is based in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. Here are 13 more things about the Tajik-Uzbek-Czech professional MMA fighter:

1. In 1993, he and his family moved to Uzbekistan. They fled Tajikistan because of a civil war.
2. In 2002, he started his training in boxing. He eventually transitioned to kickboxing and became the Junior Kickboxing Champion under the K1 rules in Uzbekistan.
3. In 2005, he and his brother started working as a construction worker after their father became disabled due to a car accident.
4. In 2008, he started his combat sambo career. In the same year, he and his brother moved from Uzbekistan to Russia. Working as a security guard in a casino, he lived in Tomsk, Siberia with his brother and other acquaintances.
5. In 2011, he moved to Czech Republic. Returning from Russia to Uzbekistan, he accepted an offer to go to Prague, Czech Republic from a friend he worked with at a construction site in Russia. He worked as a waiter and a cleaner and did several other jobs in Prague, where he also started his training in Muay Thai and mixed martial arts under the tutelage of Petr Kníže.
6. On April 29, 2012, he made his professional MMA bout at “K1EL Round 3” at the Infiniti Arena Kosice in Slovakia. He knocked out Patrik Jevicky.
7. On March 19, 2015, he knocked out Andreas Birgels at “Caveam Bitva Roku 2015” at the Arena Sparta Podvinny Mlyn in Prague. When he fought at World Association of Kickboxing Organizations (WAKO) K1 European Cup 2015 tournament in September 2015, he lost via unanimous decision against Bartosz Dołbień in the first match.
8. From 2016 to 2019, he won eight out of nine fights in X Fight nights. In March 2017, he attended an event at Lávka Club in Prague. He was invited by Czech bobsledder Miloš Veselý. In the event, he met Floyd Mayweather Jr.
9. In 2018, he officially became a citizen of Czech Republic. In February 2018, he became the first MMA fighter signed by Mayweather’s The Money Team. In December 2018, he started dating Monika Bagárová, a Czech singer of Romani descent.
10. In 2019, he became a citizen of Uzbekistan and the first Uzbek MMA fighter to compete in the UFC. On August 11, 2019, Mayweather took to Instagram to share a photo of them with a caption declaring him as the best MMA fighter in the world. He got a lot of attention and even received offers from Bellator MMA and ONE Championship, which he both declined. He defeated Alessio Di Chirico via unanimous decision at “UFC Fight Night 160” on September 28, 2019 in Copenhagen, Denmark and knocked out Trevor Smith at “UFC on ESPN 7” on December 7, 2019 in Washington, D.C., USA.
11. In 2020, Bagárová gave birth to their daughter Rumia Muradov. He was supposed to fight Kevin Holland that year but it was cancelled because he tested positive for the new coronavirus (COVID-19).
12. On January 23, 2021, he knocked out Andrew Sanchez at “UFC 257” in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. On August 28, 2021, he was submitted by Gerald Meerschaert at “UFC on ESPN 30” at the UFC Apex in Enterprise, Nevada. On October 22, 2022, he lost to Caio Borralho via unanimous decision at “UFC 280” in Abu Dhabi.
13. He was 33 years old when he defeated Bryan Barberena on July 22, 2023 via unanimous decision at “UFC Fight Night 224” in London, England, which improved his professional MMA record to 26 wins and 8 losses.