Rizvan Kuniev

Kuniev's biggest UFC result to date was a three-round unanimous decision over Almeida. The win mattered because he handled a dangerous heavyweight grappler over the full fifteen minutes rather than needing a quick finish.

Key moments

• Won a unanimous decision over three rounds.
• Beat a high-level heavyweight grappler in his most notable UFC result.
• Followed the Blaydes loss with a meaningful rebound.

Kuniev pushed Blaydes hard enough to make the scorecards competitive, but he came up short in a split decision after three rounds. Even in defeat, the fight showed he could hang in a measured heavyweight bout against a proven contender.

Key moments

• Lost a split decision after fifteen minutes.
• Forced a competitive scorecard verdict against Blaydes.
• Went the distance in his first UFC defeat.

Kuniev earned his UFC shot by stopping Cunha with only one second left in the opening round on Contender Series. The body-knee sequence and follow-up punches captured the kind of late-round pressure he can build when opponents fade.

Key moments

• Won by first-round TKO on Contender Series.
• The finish landed at 4:59 of round one.
• Turned the bout late and converted it into a UFC contract win.

Kuniev originally left the Ferreira fight with a result, but the bout was later overturned to a no contest. That makes it one of the stranger lines on his recent record and one reason his last-five form needs the NC called out explicitly.

Key moments

• The bout was later overturned to a no contest.
• It officially lasted the scheduled three rounds.
• The reversal interrupted the normal win-loss flow on his record.

Kuniev needed just over a minute to submit Hamilton and show that the heavyweight game is not only about his top pressure and striking. The guillotine gave him a fast statement win before the later Contender Series push.

Key moments

• Submitted Hamilton in the first round.
• The guillotine finish came at 1:17 of round one.
• Recorded one of the quickest finishes of his recent run.

Kuniev's first Contender Series appearance ended with a late third-round stoppage of Santos, but it did not bring an immediate UFC contract. The result still mattered because it extended his unbeaten run and proved he could keep a big man working deep into a fight before finding the finish.

Key moments

• Kuniev stopped Santos by TKO at 1:00 of the third round.
• The finish followed the December 2020 title win over Vladimir Daineko.
• It kept Kuniev unbeaten since his 2015 loss to Justin Willis.

The Daineko fight was one of Kuniev's key regional wins because it ended with a corner stoppage after three rounds and delivered the Eagle FC heavyweight title. The result mattered because it gave the later Contender Series run some real promotional weight behind it.

Key moments

• Kuniev beat Daineko by corner stoppage at the end of round three.
• The victory won him the Eagle FC heavyweight belt.
• It followed his February 2020 decision over Ruud Vernooij.

Kuniev went the full fifteen minutes with Vernooij and kept the win streak moving on the scorecards. The result mattered because it showed he could bank rounds cleanly between the more visible late finishes over Abasov and Daineko.

Key moments

• Kuniev beat Vernooij by unanimous decision over three rounds.
• The win came roughly five months after the TKO of Shamil Abasov.
• It set up the later Eagle FC title fight with Vladimir Daineko.

Abasov forced Kuniev into the late stages again, but Kuniev closed the show near the horn of round three. The result mattered because it showed the same attritional pattern that later defined the Santos and Daineko fights: long pressure, then a late stoppage when opponents fade.

Key moments

• Kuniev stopped Abasov by TKO at 4:53 of the third round.
• The finish followed the quick submission of Navid Yadegari in July 2019.
• It extended Kuniev's winning streak to six fights.

Kuniev mixed the record with a fast grappling finish against Yadegari, needing only two minutes to close the fight. The result mattered because it reminded opponents that his heavyweight game was not only about top pressure and punches.

Key moments

• Kuniev submitted Yadegari with a rear-naked choke at 2:00 of round one.
• The bout came eleven months after the first-round TKO of Jose Jimenez.
• It was Kuniev's second recorded submission win.

Jimenez gave Kuniev one of the sharper first-round finishes of his pre-title regional run. The result mattered because it followed back-to-back decisions in 2017 and helped re-establish him as a finisher before the 2019-21 surge.

Key moments

• Kuniev stopped Jimenez by TKO at 2:35 of the first round.
• The finish came after decision wins over Konstantin Andreitsev and Charles Andrade.
• It pushed Kuniev's unbeaten streak to four fights.

Andreitsev took Kuniev to the cards, but Kuniev still banked another clear regional win at the end of 2017. The result mattered because it made two straight decision victories after the long gap from his 2015 loss to Justin Willis.

Key moments

• Kuniev beat Andreitsev by unanimous decision over three rounds.
• The win followed the September 2017 decision over Charles Andrade.
• It showed Kuniev could reassemble momentum after nearly two years away.

Kuniev's return from the Justin Willis loss started with a clean decision over Andrade in September 2017. The result mattered because it reopened the climb after a two-year layoff and began the unbeaten streak that carried him to Eagle FC gold and the UFC.

Key moments

• Kuniev beat Andrade by unanimous decision after three rounds.
• It was his first fight since the August 2015 loss to Justin Willis.
• The victory started the unbeaten run that later reached Contender Series and the UFC.

Willis handed Kuniev a decision loss in Japan, ending the early stretch of his career before the long unbeaten rebound that followed. The result mattered because it became the last official defeat on Kuniev's record for nearly a decade.

Key moments

• Willis beat Kuniev by unanimous decision over two rounds.
• The defeat followed Kuniev's June 2014 decision loss to Darko Stosic.
• Kuniev did not take another official loss until Curtis Blaydes in June 2025.

Stosic gave Kuniev one of the few early-career setbacks, taking a decision over three rounds. The loss mattered because it interrupted the positive start Kuniev had built from the 2011 draw and the 2012 stoppage win over Mikhail Istomin.

Key moments

• Stosic beat Kuniev by unanimous decision over three rounds.
• It was Kuniev's first official loss after opening his career unbeaten in three results.
• The defeat came more than two years after the TKO of Mikhail Istomin.

Kuniev's first recorded stoppage win came against Istomin, when the fight ended at the start of round two. The result mattered because it gave the young heavyweight a clearer launching point after the 2011 tournament draw and semifinal win.

Key moments

• Kuniev beat Istomin by TKO at the start of round two.
• The bout followed the October 2011 draw with Ivan Gayvanovich.
• It was the first stoppage victory listed on Kuniev's record.

Kuniev's earliest recorded final ended in a draw with Gayvanovich after two rounds. The result matters mostly as an anchor point for the start of the record, because it left him without a clean tournament win but still unbeaten heading into 2012.

Key moments

• Kuniev fought Gayvanovich to a draw over two rounds.
• The bout came one day after the semifinal win over Anatoli Ciumac.
• It remains the only draw on Kuniev's professional record.

Ciumac was the earliest recorded win on Kuniev's ledger, getting him through the semifinal round of the 2011 WMMAF competition. The result mattered because it set up the next-day final with Ivan Gayvanovich and established the starting point of Kuniev's long heavyweight record.

Key moments

• Kuniev beat Ciumac in the WMMAF 2011 semifinal over two rounds.
• The win advanced him to the final against Ivan Gayvanovich on the following day.
• It was the first official victory listed on Kuniev's record.