5 Things You Might Not Know About Ramazan Emeev

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A stellar 5-1 record through six appearances has not been enough to propel Ramazan Emeev up the Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight ladder as quickly as he would have liked.

The 34-year-old Dagestani sambo stylist will put his modest two-fight winning streak on the line when he confronts Danny Roberts in a three-round UFC Fight Night 195 prelim on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Emeev has quietly rattled off 17 victories across his past 19 outings but has struggled to gain traction as anything more than a dark horse threat at 170 pounds. He last competed at UFC on ABC 1, where he eked out a split decision over David Zawada on Jan. 16.

As Emeev approaches his intriguing undercard clash with Roberts, here are five things you might not know about him:

1. He made sure to draw attention to himself.

Emeev remains one of only two fighters—Viktor Nemkov is the other—in M-1 Global history to capture the same title twice. He laid claim to the promotion’s middleweight crown for the first time when he took a unanimous decision from Mario Miranda at M-1 Challenge 35 on Nov. 15, 2012 and held it until Sept. 7, 2014. Emeev reclaimed the 185-pound championship when he submitted Vyacheslav Vasilevsky with a first-round rear-naked choke at M-1 Challenge 56 on April 10, 2015, then made two subsequent title defenses before vacating the throne to sign with the UFC.

2. He runs with thoroughbreds.

The two-time M-1 Global champion trains with the Gorets Fight Team in his native Russia, where he hones his world-class skills alongside a host of accomplished stablemates, including Rashid Magomedov, Gadzhimurad Antigulov and Magomed Ankalaev. Emeev has also spent time at American Top Team in Coconut Creek, Florida.

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3. He excelled outside of MMA.

Emeev holds the prestigious International Master of Sport designation in combat sambo. He was a World Cup champion in the discipline before turning his attention to mixed martial arts.

4. Judges tend to see him in favorable light.

The Gorets Fight Team representative has gone the distance 12 times in his 24-fight career and owns a 10-2 record in those appearances. The only two men two defeat Emeev by decision are Mukhamed Aushev and Anthony Rocco Martin. Emeev dropped a two-round verdict to Aushev at a Russian regional event in October 2010 and lost a unanimous decision to Martin at UFC Fight Night 163 in November 2019.

5. He put a safety net in place.

Emeev earned a bachelor’s degree in law from Dagestan State University in Makhachkala, Russia. The institution was founded in 1931 and touts itself “as a major educational, scientific and cultural center which provides training at all levels of pre-university, university, postgraduate and further education in 59 specialties and degree programs for natural sciences, liberal arts and technical studies.”