Zaurbek Sidakov not competing in Olympics, considering move to MMA

2021 Olympic champion and three-time world champion Zaurbek Sidakov will not compete in the 2024 Paris Olympics and is instead considering a move to mixed martial arts. This news was announced in an interview with UFC fighter Muhammad Naimov hosted by Islam Babajanov on the Ushatayka YouTube channel.

“He (Sidakov) just said he won’t participate (in the Olympics),” Naimov said. When asked about Sidakov’s interest in MMA, Naimov didn’t give a yes or no answer as to whether Sidakov would do it or not, but he did say this:

“He told me that after the Olympics he will move on to MMA. I think he will come.”

Naimov also said they were already in talks with MMA manager Ali Abdelaziz, who manages several former UFC champions, such as Khabib Nurmagomedov, Kamaru Usman, Justin Gaethje and Henry Cejudo, among others. Henry Cejudo wrote to Sidakov that he is willing to help with the transition to MMA.

This news comes days after Sidakov was not among the Russian and Belarusian athletes initially allowed to compete in the Paris Games.

Sidakov has not yet made a public statement on the situation.