Despite Azerbaijan having several prominent fighters in the UFC, MMA in the country is not developing as strongly as many would hope. Only a handful of fighters make it to the international level, while dozens of others try to make their way through a poorly functioning system, hoping to one day earn their “golden ticket” to the world of MMA. The story of 34-year-old Azerbaijani fighter Marat Safarov from Gusar is a reflection of those challenges.
Safarov began his career at the age of 25 and had never trained in any sport before that. He believes that not everyone in his position would have had the courage to make such a major change.
“I started my career late, when I already had two children. I had never trained before that. You rarely see something like this. When you have children, different problems come up, and people usually give up sport. But it was different for me because I always had a dream. I learned quickly and have now been involved in sport for around 10 years. And I’m not thinking about stopping yet,” he told İdman.Biz.
Safarov admits that sport completely changed his life and helped him give up unhealthy habits.
“Before sport, I had nothing going for me. I smoked cigarettes and drank alcohol. Then I gave everything up and devoted myself to religion and sport. Everyone in Gusar who knows me thinks, ‘How is this even possible? This guy was always smoking and drinking.’ I wanted to change something, not just for myself. I always had a dream of being an example for my children.”
Building a successful professional MMA career, however, has proved far from easy. Throughout his years in sport, Safarov has had to combine training with a regular job. He works as a driver.
He currently has six wins and three defeats from nine professional bouts. Safarov's most recent fight took place at the end of August at the inaugural Mangu Professional League 4 event in Uzbekistan, where he faced local fighter Shokhrukh Torakhanov. Safarov won the bout after spending a year without fighting because of difficulties finding managers and suitable promotions.
“It’s a new league and a very good one. My opponent was strong. It wasn’t easy, to be honest. He was considered the favourite because he was younger. He also had a good training camp, going to Thailand and other places. I didn’t even have a proper routine, training plan or diet. I work as a driver. I leave home in the morning with my bag, and whenever I have time, I go to the gym. So I won the fight purely on character,” Safarov said.
View this post on InstagramHe hopes the promotion will offer him more fights. At the same time, he admits that bouts are generally difficult to come by and attributes this to problems with the development of MMA in Azerbaijan.
According to Safarov, it is extremely difficult for fighters to make their way in the sport in Azerbaijan because there are no established professional leagues and athletes do not receive enough support. At the same time, initiatives that do emerge eventually fade away because of financial difficulties.
“If we had good leagues here, everyone would know about us too. Fighters from Uzbekistan and Russia would come here. But that doesn’t happen, and it’s difficult for us. We are sent abroad once or twice a year. But honestly, that’s not enough for me, especially because I’m getting older. It will only get harder. There are promising young fighters in Azerbaijan. If there were proper support… Everyone has the same problem – they have to combine work with training. Some get tired because of it and give up the sport.”
Safarov also described his own early career as an example of how poorly, in his view, the system can work. He claims that fighters with virtually no experience can be sent straight into professional bouts, with young athletes sometimes being exploited for financial gain before they understand how the industry works.
“When I started, I knew nothing about cutting weight, recovery or proper nutrition. I had one amateur fight, and they simply took me and put me into a professional bout. At the time, I didn’t even know anything about professional MMA. They basically take someone off the street and put them in there against a professional.
“Unfortunately, there are still many cases like this. They take young people somewhere for money. For TikTok, for filming. Then they put nice footage online. But the fight itself may not even happen properly – the fighter loses after 10 seconds. The same thing happened to me. But then I decided to keep a promise I had made to myself: to have at least one professional fight in my life.”
After returning from that unsuccessful bout, Safarov began looking for a new team. He was helped by former Azerbaijani mixed martial artist Bakhtiyar Arzumanaov, nicknamed “Kind Lezgin”, whom Safarov describes as a “Gusar legend”. Arzumanaov brought him to a gym where several well-known Azerbaijani MMA fighters, including Tofiq Musayev, were training at the time.
“We trained together for about four years. Then everyone went their separate ways. For the past two or three years, Farid (Farid Alibabazade, an Azerbaijani mixed martial artist – İdman.Biz) and I have been building our own team. He is the head coach. We have two gyms. Farid helped me a lot at the beginning and still helps me today. Even when I was preparing for the fight in Uzbekistan, I would come to the gym after work when the training session was already finishing. He would leave a couple of people there for me so that I could train as well.”
According to the fighter, his children are what motivate him not to give up. He continues to hope that one day he will get the opportunity to prove himself at a higher level.
“Maybe someone will notice me. Anything can happen in life. If a person really wants something, they can achieve it. There is even a documentary about fighter Marat Balaev. He went to prison at 27, got out at 37 and started his professional career. Everything worked out well for him. He simply believed in himself and kept going until the end. The main thing is to believe, and with a little support, anything is possible.”
