ONE Championship Signs Undefeated MMA Stars Ilmadi Israilov And Kalandar Tabarov
ONE Championship has added two undefeated fighters to its MMA ranks with the signings of Ilmadi Israilov and Kalandar Tabarov.
The Eurasian standouts bring a combined 14 professional victories without a single defeat, along with contrasting styles that have made both men dangerous finishers.
At just 23 years old, Russia’s Israilov owns a perfect 9-0 record, with six victories coming by submission. Meanwhile, 27-year-old Tajik standout Tabarov is 5-0 with an 80 percent finishing rate, having showcased knockout power and a dangerous submission game.
Both will now look to carry their unbeaten records into ONE’s stacked bantamweight MMA division.
Israilov Brings Dangerous Submission Game To ONE
Ilmadi Israilov has already accumulated more than seven years of professional experience despite being only 23.
The Dagestan native made his professional MMA debut as a teenager in 2019 and quickly established grappling as the foundation of his game.
Six of his nine victories have come by submission, including rear-naked chokes, a triangle choke, and a guillotine. Even more impressively, five of those six finishes came in the opening round.
The Fight Club Akhmat representative sharpened those skills while competing extensively on the Russian regional circuit, where he put together a string of submission victories before facing increasingly experienced opposition.
His two most recent victories showed another side of his development. Rather than relying on an early finish, Israilov went the full three rounds on consecutive occasions and earned unanimous decisions to extend his immaculate record to 9-0.
Those performances showed that the Russian phenom can succeed over the distance when his trademark submissions do not materialize immediately.
Now, he will bring his submission-heavy skill set into ONE’s bantamweight division and attempt to preserve a perfect professional record that began when he was still in his teens.
Tabarov Owns A Staggering 80 Percent Finishing Rate
Kalandar Tabarov has already shown why the unbeaten Tajik star is such an intriguing addition. The 27-year-old owns a 5-0 record with four finishes, giving him an 80 percent finishing rate.
After going the distance in his professional debut, Tabarov has stopped every opponent placed in front of him. His first finish lasted just 13 seconds, while his following appearance produced the most spectacular knockout of his career when he landed a spinning wheel kick in the opening round against a considerably more experienced opponent.
Rather than continuing that run with his striking, Tabarov then demonstrated his versatility on the ground. He submitted his next opponent with a second-round triangle choke before returning in April 2026 and securing a first-round technical submission with an arm-triangle choke.
That means Tabarov’s current four-fight finishing streak is split evenly between two knockouts and two submissions.
He has also spent much of his recent career competing around the 145-pound mark, making ONE’s bantamweight ranks a natural destination for the Dushanbe native.
From a lightning-fast stoppage to a spinning-wheel-kick knockout and consecutive submission victories, Tabarov has already shown several ways to end a fight. He will now attempt to bring that versatility to ONE alongside fellow undefeated newcomer Israilov.
