Eldar Eldarov (left) with Adam Batirov (center)
Brave’s Eldar Eldarov coaches pupil to Bronze medal in Wrestling at Baku Games
Lightweight Eldar Eldarov isn’t just an excellent mixed martial artist. The Russian is also an accomplished wrestling coach with Olympic experience under his belt. During the month of May, Eldarov once again represented Brave CF at the Islamic Solidarity Games, which took place in Baku, Azerbaijan. While MMA wasn’t on the list of sports for the event, the Russian helped a pupil to Bronze in Freestyle Wrestling.
Younger brother of two-time Olympic champion Mavlet Batirov, Bahrein’s Adam Batirov was able to medal at the Solidarity Games, after bowing out of the 2016 Olympics in the first round. Eldarov’s coaching has certainly made a difference, since he was on site to help his pupil prepare.
“Batirov is a very accomplished athlete, a high level Olympic wrestler and he doesn’t need someone to teach him now, he has a lot of experience. As a coach, my job is to provide a disciplined atmosphere, to help him with the weight cut, and to fim him good sparring partners. I enjoy working with him, we understand each other very well, and sometimes even without words. He knows what team work means and I appreciate that”, commented Eldarov after watching his pupil win three matches while only only losing the semifinal contest.
Eldar Eldarov is one of the few athletes with two wins inside the Brave cage. He started off with a decision victory against Argentina’s Kevin Koldobsky at the first ever Brave event, following up with a brutal ground and pound knockout of Brazilian grappler Henrique “Rasputin” Gomes in a bout that served as the Brave 6 main event, in Kazakhstan, last April. He credits his work as a coach for his winning streak – Eldarov has only one MMA loss, to current UFC number one contender Khabib Nurmagomedov.
“My work as a coach also helps me a lot with my fighting career. I have to watch a lot of tournaments, a lot of matches in wrestling and I always end up learning new techniques so I can pass the knowledge to my students”, claimed the Russian Lightweight.
