University of Michigan’s World Wresting Champion Lauds ‘GOAT’ Gracing the Mats 15 Years After Retirement

With grey hair and a tall demeanor, a wrestler of Chechen heritage has still got it. Representing Russia on a world stage and winning over nine world-class gold medals. Buvaysar Hamidovich Saytiev has a prolific wrestling career as a six-time world champion and three-time Olympic champion. Beginning his career in 1994 and expanding it through a decade and more, Saytiev achieved the ultimate feat no wrestler has reached yet.

In his career that spanned around 13 years, he competed in eleven world or Olympic championships, clinching the gold nine times and losing only twice. His only two losses were against the Iranian Davoud Ghanbari in the World Championship in 1994 and then against American wrestler Brandon Slay at the 2000 Summer Olympics. And now, even after 15 years since he retired, he does not seem to have lost the touch. A fresh clip of Saytiev in a training arena drew the attention of another wrestling champion.

Legend on the mats again

After dominating the 74 kg division for more than a decade, Saytiev took retirement from international wrestling and went on to live his life as a State deputy in Dagestan. Recently in a video that surfaced on Instagram, the Dagestan legend was seen back on the mat. He was seen fighting a friendly bout with his training partner. Recalling Saytiev’s golden days, the clip was spotted by Stevan Micic. The University of Michigan Wrestling champion shared the clip on his Instagram captioning, “The Greatest Of All Times @saitiev74 no one comes close”.

Stevan Mićić himself hails from Serbia and is a Serbian-American freestyle and folkstyle wrestler competing at 57 kg. Serbia and Dagestan are on the opposite ends of the black sea. Micic used to compete for the USA but then switched to his Serbian roots. In the 2023 World Wrestling Championship, he stood atop the podium as he made history by becoming Serbia’s first-ever men’s freestyle champion. Going by his roots, Micic’s sentiments for Saytiev were quite understandable. Serbia and Dagestan are somewhat anchored by wrestling. And the legacy of Dagestan in this sport is not hidden.

The wrestling legacy of Dagestan

Saytiev is one of the many wrestling legends that have come out from Dagestan. His younger brother Adam Saytiev represented the country in 1999 instead of Buvaisar and finished his campaign with a gold. Wrestling is embedded in the structure of Dagestan. Their methodology and skill are at another level.

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Even champion wrestler Kyle Snyder is aware and acknowledges that Russians excel at wrestling far better than anyone. While talking to Victory Journal he said, “If I can speak Russian, then I’ll change wrestling in America forever, because I’ll get all the Russians that are really good to come train here” The wrestling legacy of Dagestan was brought to light by the incredible legendary career of Saytiev and it still shines brightest with all the talented Olympic wrestlers coming out of Dagestan.

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