Rinat Fakhretdinov

Rinat Fakhretdinov is a 34-year-old Russian welterweight who arrived in the UFC as a late-career prospect with an impressive regional resume. Born in Mordovia in 1991, he spent his early fighting years building a 19-2 record across Russian and UAE promotions, where a knockout of Eric Spicely at UAE Warriors 15 caught the eye of UFC president Dana White. His June 2022 debut marked him as the first Tatar fighter to compete in a Western MMA promotion, and he immediately impressed with a unanimous decision over Andreas Michailidis. Over the next three and a half years, Fakhretdinov compiled a perfect 6-0-1 UFC record across seven fights, mixing decision wins with two finishing victories. His signature moment came in July 2023 when he submitted Kevin Lee with a guillotine choke just 54 seconds into their fight, a finish that earned a nomination for UFC.com's 2023 Submission of the Year. Fakhretdinov's style is built on a wrestling and sambo foundation; he is a patient, methodical grinder who controls pace and position before finding opportunities to land strikes or secure submissions. He does not dazzle with flashy striking or overwhelming pressure; instead, he outthinks and wears down his opponents over three rounds. His last two UFC wins, over Nicolas Dalby (split decision) and Carlos Leal (unanimous decision despite 16 of 16 media outlets favoring Leal), demonstrated both his ability to win tight fights and his polarizing nature as an undefeated fighter who sometimes drew heavy criticism from observers. His final octagon appearance, a dominant 54-second TKO of Andreas Gustafsson in September 2025, capped an unbeaten run at 23 consecutive wins dating back years. Yet in December 2025, after his contract expired, the UFC declined to re-sign him despite his perfect record, ending one of the more unusual chapters in recent UFC history: an undefeated fighter released rather than retained.