Video: Ramazan Gitinov- A Star In The Making

MMA fans might want to jump on board the hype train now. After dominating the amateurs Ramazan Gitinov looks set to become a force in the pro scene.

MMA fans might want to get used to hearing the name Ramazan Gitinov. The 26-year-old Dagestan-born athlete, who fights out of KHK MMA, was one of the most gifted amateur MMA fighters the sport has ever seen, racking up 30 straight wins and multiple world championships while representing Team Bahrain.

It was only a matter of time before Gitinov turned professional, and this week, at BRAVE CF 71, with a first-round submission victory over Morocoo's Abderrahman Errachidy, he proved he will soon be a problem for BRAVE's lightweight division.

Gitinov's win over Errachidy was his second pro bout, with his first an opening-round TKO win over Belarussian Artem Rzheusskiy at BFC 20 last December. Gitinov dominated the bout from the outset, earning a takedown with less than a minute gone.

Once Errachidy hit the canvas, there was little he could do to fend off Gitinov, and the fight was called at the 1:55 mark after Errachidy was put to sleep by a D'Arce choke.

If you have not paid attention, BRAVE CF has steadily built a reputation for producing outstanding talent. The Bahrain-based promotion helped nurture the likes of Muhammad Mokaev, Khamzat Chimaev and Ilia Topuria. It may be early days yet, but so far, Gitinov is living up to the promise he displayed as an amateur and which brought him from Dagestan to Bahrain.

In a region full of talented grapplers, only the exceptional stand out. Gitinov, who began wrestling as a child, grew up in the small village of Khunzakh. The village is also home to Eldar Eldarov, the current BRAVE CF super lightweight champion and coach of Team Bahrain. Eldarov, who is eight years older than Gitinov, was back in Dagestan and found himself in a sparring session with Gitinov.

His younger opponent surprised him with his technical ability, and Eldarov immediately invited him to live and train full-time as an amateur with Team Bahrain.

Gitinov's MMA career had a rocky start, as he went 1-2 to begin his amateur tenure. During a loss to Fabien Xabidi in 2017, he suffered a facial fracture that sent him to the sidelines for the entirety of 2018.

The injury was a blessing in disguise as he used his time out of the cage wisely, improving his striking game and learning how to adapt his wrestling to MMA. Once he returned to competition, he was a different animal and conquered the IMMAF amateur scene with ferocious intensity.

Gitinov now looks set to bring that same skill and intensity to the pro ranks. While there will be far more formidable and more challenging opponents in the future, if you are an MMA fan who enjoys watching the rise of the next "big thing", you might want to think about investing your time in Gitinov, as his stock looks set to rise quickly and sharply.