Photo courtesy of Absolute Championship Akhmat

This breakdown stems from a larger dissection of ACA’s lightweight division.

The Caucasus region has such a rich history of grappling arts that it rarely produces pure strikers. Any fighter coming up in gyms around Dagestan, Chechnya, or Ossetia will be exposed to so many training partners with Judo, Wrestling, or Sambo backgrounds that he’ll be sure to pick up at the very least competent grappling. A large presence of Sambo in the region, an art that focuses on sprint grappling and transitions between striking and grappling, means that these fighters are often prepared to mix their striking and grappling on the fly, using one to set up the other.

Khusein Khaliev is exactly that type of striker. While there isn’t much information available on his history, his fighting style makes it clear that he has some sort of traditional martial arts background - perhaps Tae Kwon Do or Sanda. His A-game is flashy spinning attacks and various long-range kicks, but he looks just as comfortable tossing opponents in the clinch or riding like a freestyle wrestler.

Upon entering ACA after the ACB/WFCA merger, Khaliev was the WFCA Lightweight champion with a stellar record of 19-1. His only loss had come two years into his career, a close split decision to Yasubey Enomoto. He was immediately booked against Ali Bagov, a top 5 Lightweight and one of the scariest men in MMA, for a title unification fight. While Khaliev put up a good fight and was surprisingly competitive early, he was overwhelmed by the elite wrestler and submitted late in the fourth round with a kimura. Although his first fight in ACA ended in defeat, Khaliev has a bright future in the organization, especially with Bagov now moving up to Welterweight.

Striking

Khaliev’s striking style bears a lot of resemblance to that of Sambo fighters in MMA, who prefer to set a long distance and attack by covering it with explosive bursts. He maintains a long distance between himself and his opponent, filling the distance with kicks. Strong rear-side leg kicks and a dexterous lead leg allow him to out-fox opponents on the outside. His punching offense comes mainly in the form of explosive bursts, wherein he’ll leap forward and use his lead hand to set up his rear straight or overhand.