Islam Makhachev Awarded Honored Master of Sport of Russia Title

Legendary sambist and UFC champion Islam Makhachev has been awarded the honorary title of “Honored Master of Sport of Russia”. The corresponding order was signed by Mikhail Degtyarev, Minister of Sport of the Russian Federation.

“Islam is an outstanding athlete, a Combat SAMBO World Champion, and he has made an unprecedented contribution to popularizing our beloved martial art on the international stage. Competing in the UFC, he became champion in two weight divisions and firmly established himself atop the pound-for-pound rankings of the world's best fighters. In front of an international audience of millions, he consistently and proudly speaks of Combat SAMBO as his home discipline, demonstrating in the cage just how powerful and effective our sport truly is,” said Vasily Shestakov, President of the International SAMBO Federation (FIAS).

As a reminder, earlier this year Islam Makhachev became a SAMBO Ambassador to the World. The decision was announced during his meeting with FIAS President Vasily Shestakov, held on February 18 at the International SAMBO Center. At the time, Makhachev noted that the new title simply formalized what had long been reality: that he, Fedor Emelianenko, and Khabib Nurmagomedov already represented SAMBO on the world MMA stage.

“I already told Vasily Borisovich that I was unofficially a SAMBO ambassador to the world anyway. People know me, Fedor, and Khabib as SAMBO representatives. I think anyone who understands MMA will agree that the best fighters are SAMBO fighters,” Makhachev said at the time.