Rizvan Kuniev

Russia

Wins snoozer from Jailton Almeida
HeavyweightUFC
February 7, 2026
Kuniev defeated Jailton Almeida via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) at UFC Fight Night on Saturday in Las Vegas.
ANALYSIS
Almeida catches a lot of flack for his inactivity and being one of the most boring fighters on the roster. That said, Kuniev isn't much better. Yes, he won here and did so easily, but he wasn't exactly impressive in the process. Kuniev stuffed all eight of Almeida's takedown attempts, and in the rare instance in which the latter opened up on the feet, Kuniev simply spun him to the fence and held on for dear life. Rizvan was credited with 6:35 worth of control time despite not attempting a single takedown. The 33-year-old Russian is massive and has to cut down to reach the 266-pound heavyweight limit. His power is mediocre, and he hasn't shown much through two UFC fights despite facing reasonable competition in Almeida and Curtis Blaydes (a split decision loss).
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Gets new opponent
HeavyweightUFC
January 20, 2026
Kuniev will now take on Jailton Almeida in a light heavyweight bout at UFC Vegas 113 on Feb. 7, per Marcel Dorff of Eurosport.nl.
ANALYSIS
Kuniev was initially slated to take on Ryan Spann, but the latter was forced to pull out of the bout for currently undisclosed reasons. Now, Kuniev will face Almeida, who steps in on short notice, and will still be looking for his first win in the UFC.
Facing Spann in February
HeavyweightUFC
December 13, 2025
Kuniev will take on Ryan Spann in a light heavyweight bout at UFC Vegas 113 on Feb. 7, per Marcel Dorff of Eurosport.nl.
ANALYSIS
Kuniev lost his lone UFC bout to Curtis Blaydes via split decision back in June. Now, he'll get his second chance in the Octagon against a much more experienced fighter in Spann, who currently sits at 9-6 in the UFC.
Excellent effort in debut loss
HeavyweightUFC
June 21, 2025
Kuniev lost to Curtis Blaydes via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 28-29) at UFC Fight Night on Saturday in Baku, Azerbaijan.
ANALYSIS
It was an excellent showing from Kuniev in his official UFC debut, and no one would have been shocked in the least if the scorecards ended up going in his favor. Facing an elite wrestler in Blaydes, Kuniev stuffed 13-of-15 takedown attempts. He displayed terrific balance and athleticism in remaining upright over and over. Kuniev was also the more effective man on the feet in terms of damaging blows landed, although Blaydes won the significant strike count by a 56-45 mark. Kuniev doesn't have one elite skill to fall back upon in the event of trouble, but he's pretty good everywhere and has proven to be durable, having never been finished in his professional career. That's enough to make some waves in a thin heavyweight division at this point.
Fight rebooked
HeavyweightUFC
March 11, 2025
Kuniev will face off against Curtis Blaydes at UFC Qatar on May 17, Marcel Dorff of Eurosport.nl reports.
ANALYSIS
Kuniev will face off against Curtis Blaydes in May after their bout at UFC 313 was cancelled. The 33-year-old Russian fighter is 12-2 in his professional career, making his UFC debut against Blaydes.
Fight cancelled
HeavyweightUFC
March 8, 2025
Kuniev will no longer take on Curtis Blaydes in a heavyweight bout at UFC 313, MMAFighting.com reports.
ANALYSIS
It's an unfortunate circumstance for Kuniev, as there's little he could do: his opponent Blaydes suffered an illness and had to pull out of the fight at the last minute. Kuniev's UFC debut will have to wait.