Karimula Barkalaev

Barkalaev was born on January 23, 1973, in the village of Tivi, Qvareli, Georgian SSR.[1][2][3][4] He is of Avar descent.[2][3]

After sixth grade, he moved to Kaspiysk, Dagestan where he attended a sports boarding school for Judo and graduated in 1990.[1][2][3] He trained with his cousin, Dzhabrail Barkalaev who later became a silver medalist at the 1996 Russian Judo Championship.[2][3][6]

In 1993, Barkalaev started training in Sanda.[2][3] He was winner of the 1995 and 1996 Russian Wushu Championships.[2][3][7] He was also a silver medalist in the 1996 European Wushu Championship in Rome.[2][7]

In 1997, Barkalaev met Volk Han and would train under him to participate in mixed martial arts.[2][3]

Barkalaev spent his early career fighting under the International Absolute Fighting Council (IAFC) promotion in Russia.

On May 23, 1998, he fought against Gilbert Yvel.[2][3][8] Yvel was disqualified after Barkalaev's coach Volk Han noted the referee Yvel had illegally bitten his fighter[2][3][8]

On February 8, 2001, Barkalaev competed in the Shidokan Jitsu – Warriors 1 Tournament in Kuwait.[2][3][7][9] He faced Dave Menne in the finals and lost by unanimous decision after referee, John McCarthy deducted a point for grabbing the cage.[2][3][7][9] After the fight, he complained how the event was unfair since the referee, as well as all three judges were from the U.S.[2][3][7][9]

Since that tournament, Barkalaev has not participated in any MMA bouts.[2][3] He has stated there was a lack of financial incentive and interest in continuing.[3]

In 1998, Barkalaev competed in the inaugural tournament of the ADCC World Championship.[3][10][11] He defeated Carlos Lopez, Toby Imada and Igor Yakimov to reach the finals of the −88 kg division.[10] In the finals he lost to Rodrigo Gracie on points after a 30-minute bout.[3][10][11]

In 1999, Barkalaev returned to compete in the 1999 ADCC World Championship.[2][3][11][12] He defeated Renato Verissimo, Amaury Bitetti and Egan Inoue all by points.[12] In the finals he faced Belarusian wrestler, Aleksandr Savko where he won on points and became champion of the −88 kg division.[2][3][11][12]

In 2000, Barkalaev moved up in weight class to compete in the −99 kg division of the 2000 ADCC World Championship.[2][11][13] He defeated Nino Schembri and faced Ricardo Arona in the semi-finals.[2][3][7][11][13] The match between the two eventually became a brawl and Arona won due to points.[2][3][7][11][13] At the time, Barkalaev was an instructor in Abu Dhabi and a representative of the local Sheikh.[2][3][7][11] His action offended the Sheikh who asked for Barkalaev's arrest.[2][3][11] After the match, Barkalaev was escorted off the mat and spent a week in prison.[2][3][7][11] He was eventually released by the Sheikh and has stated he wanted to have a rematch with Arona under MMA rules.[2][3][7] Barkalaev has not participated in any ADCC World Championships since.[2]

As of 2023, Barkalaev works as a director for Dagpotrebsoyuz which is the Consumers' Union of Dagestan.[2][4]

He teaches his skills to young people and can be found at the Ali Aliyev Sport Complex which he was previously in charge of for five years.[2]

Barkalaev graduated from business school in 2003.[4] He was nominated by the Russian All-People's Union to stand in for the People's Assembly of the Republic of Dagestan although he dropped out after registration.[4]

• Professional MMA record for Karimula Barkalaev from Sherdog
• Karimula Barkalaev at Tapology.com

• List of male mixed martial artists