Kickboxing
The Golden Wolf Unleashed: Bahram Rajabzadeh is the most exciting name in combat sports
Watch GLORY 100 live Saturday on DAZN
‘The Golden Wolf’ Bahram Rajabzadeh has quickly become one of the biggest names in kickboxing. Since making his GLORY debut, the Azerbaijani athlete is a must-watch for fans of combat sports. With an aggressive style that is always aiming for the knockout, across multiple weight classes, the man lives for a good fight.
Rajabzadeh wants to lure his opponents into a brawl, then he’s happy to knock them out with a flurry of punches, a head kick, or flying knees. Sometimes his opponents land punches on him, and he then will follow up by punching himself and complaining that they didn’t hit him hard enough.
With a knockout win rate of nearly ninety per cent, he’s won over international sports fans as the most exciting fighter in kickboxing and across all combat sports.
When he competes, the audience becomes a chorus of cheers that pushes him forward, it motivates him.
Speaking during an exclusive interview with DAZN News, Rajabzadeh explained why he loves to be involved in a good scrap.
“It’s brought color into my life. I can’t even imagine another life. It’s brought so much color, so much joy, so much fun. I don’t know what else to do - I don’t know how to live my life otherwise than fighting,” he said.
In 2023, he made his debut against the top-ranked Luis Tavares with a head kick in the first round. This upended the rankings of kickboxing. A top ranked fighter was knocked out, and quickly, by a debuting athlete. All he wanted was a fight in GLORY to prove himself. The organisation matchmaker Robbie Timmers couldn’t get him to stop phoning so finally he got a match.
“I made him go totally nuts—I was messaging him day and night to get me a fight. He’d wake up and see my messages, even during quarantine. I thought it wasn’t going to happen, but finally he gave me that fight. The only thing I remember is Robbie from that fight.”
Since his GLORY debut, Rajabzadeh has competed across both heavyweight and light heavyweight divisions, in tournaments and regular bouts. Incredibly, in the twenty-five months he has been with GLORY, he has fought in twelve bouts with his thirteenth upcoming at GLORY 100 on Saturday.
As part of the Last Heavyweight Standing tournament, the Azerbaijani knockout machine will face the dangerous Asdren Gashi. Both men will be looking for a knockout to proceed to the next round. However, to make things even more challenging, they will need to win two fights at GLORY 100 just to get to the next round. The stakes are incredibly high.
Legions of combat sports fans stand in support of their favorite athlete, and ‘The Golden Wolf’ has become an inspiration for a generation of up-and-coming athletes. To them, he says:
“All I can say to young people is: first, your family - always protect and love your family. That’s the most important thing. Your country, your flag, and do your training, do your fighting, but be true to yourself and keep that going. That’s what I can say to the youngsters who are watching me.”
