Abdulrashid Sadulaev after winning a gold medal at the 2019 World Championships (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)The Individual World Cup wraps up today in Belgrade with the freestyle finals, including 97 kilograms where Abdulrashid Sadulaev looks to continue his three-year winning streak.
No wrestler has continued to capture the imagination of the international wrestling community more than Sadulaev. From that first steam rolling of the competition at the 2013 Cadet World Championships, to the first senior world title in 2014, and even the 2017 loss to Kyle Snyder, there is no wrestler in the world that is more admired, pursued, discussed, respected, emulated, and sought after than the Russian captain.
Americans want to see Sadulaev beaten. Maybe by J'den Cox, maybe Kyle Snyder, but the aim of fans is to have the Stars and Stripes upend arguably the best wrestler of the past ten years. That type of singular focus by the United States media and fans on an exalted athlete is what could make the 2021 Tokyo Games the most watched wrestling event in history.
Those lofty expectations come with an assumption that the United States puts its 97-kilogram representative into the Olympic finals against Sadualev. But should it happen the broader international media won't hesitate to make the matchup a marquee event for that day of the Olympic Games.
We've seen this before. When Rulon faced Karelin at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney the media was in attendance. The IOC president was even in the audience. The match wasn't meant to be a Miracle on Ice Olympic redux; rather a coronation of Alexander Karelin, who over 13 years had gone unscathed on the mats, as the greatest wrestler who ever lived. That moment was vanquished by an antiquated rule set and a rotund midwestern belly, but gave rise to the now most-fabled moment in wrestling's long history.
For the wrestling purist the Karelin loss didn't sit well. The Soviet-then-Russian wrestler was beyond anything we'd seen before: strong, intelligent, and fierce. His posters were in the workout rooms of Americans and his Sports Illustrated articles read over-and-over again. I know of one wrestler who'd named his mother's dog "Karelin."
That mismatch and outcome won't be what is drawing eyes to a potential USA vs. Sadulaev matchup. The draw is the intrigue that the sport has built around these characters and how their story has developed in front of our eyes like no other story in wrestling history. Just think, every match Sadulaev has wrestled is on video, as is every match from Snyder and Cox. There are no dark spots or unknown results. The clarity of their story and the detail in which it can be told can be molded for a variety of audiences, bringing in those quadrennial crowds that make our sport one of the most discussed at each Games.
The ecosystem created around wrestling has worked to create stars and provide easy access points to fans around the world. When I started working with then-FILA in 2013 we had 5,000 Facebook fans, no streaming, and zero impact on the sports landscape. This week, IOC president Thomas Bach said United World Wrestling was the seventh-best international federation in sports. The media probably plays a small role in that, but I think it's important. The ranking by the IOC shows that we will be part of the Olympic program for as long as we'd like to continue to tell stories, innovate, provide equal opportunities and develop the sport in new regions.
So, when you're watching Sadulaev in today's finals think about all of that. How far we've come, where we can go, and the feeling you'll be experiencing when next summer an American beats "The Tank" on the biggest sporting stage in the world with tens of millions of eyeballs ooh'ing and aww'ing the whole time.
To your questions …
Q: 57 kilograms in the United States seems pretty balanced. Seth Gross defeated Thomas Gilman Wednesday night. Vito looked great at the RTC Cup. Spencer Lee and Daton Fix are there and possibly Joe Colon. If you had to predict now, who will wrestle for the Olympic spot?
-- Mike C.
Foley: I agree. The depth, especially when you focus on their battles with each other, makes 57 kilograms one of the most intriguing weights in the United States.
Let me throw a little cold water on the discussion of the weight. Unless the United States representative does something at the Ranking Series event in Poland, or another international event prior, whomever is sent won't be a heavy favorite to medal. There are a lot of talented 57-kilogram wrestlers in the world right now, with Zaur Uguev head-and-shoulders above them all. While I think that Daton, Spencer, and to a lesser extent Vito, could make waves at the Olympics they are far from being an outright medal contender. Again, that's unless the representative who emerges also scores some significant international wins before July.
I feel like I have a bias, but for my money Spencer Lee is the most likely to win the spot, represent the United States, and medal at the Olympic Games. He's a generational talent and though he's been off the mats for a bit he's well-equipped to win the weight here at home.
Only caveat to that is the growth of Vito as evidenced by his outstanding wins at the RTC Cup. Should he keep up the progression, and the seeding separates them, I'd expect a final between Vito and Spencer.
Q: What do you make of the match at the NLWC event between RBY and UFC fighter Aljamain Sterling? Six minutes of wrestling and three minutes of BJJ. With Sterling having a big following, it seems like a good way to bring more attention to wrestling.
-- Mike C.
Foley: The mixed-style events are always an interest to fans, but like watching a pit bull fight a puma there is something that always feels icky about the scene. The matchup -- unless there is something I'm not aware of -- pits RBY (who doesn't know any jiu-jitsu) against Sterling (who is a black belt) for three minutes.
Are there rule considerations? No heel hooks or chokes? No submissions at all? While Sterling isn't a top-flight jiu-jitsu competitor he is a fantastic fighter and the black belt would indicate a higher-than-average competency on the mat. Sterling should have little issue finding a submission.
In the wrestling portion, I'm sure it'll be a nice RBY victory not unlike we saw when Caldwell stepped on the mat against Luke Pletcher. There might be flashes, but otherwise it shouldn't be a tightly competed match.
As for attention … sure. Sterling is a big name, but I think wrestling has progressed past the point of always needing sideshow events to draw in new fans. We do perfectly fine building on our core audience and retaining them with solid production values and quality, meaningful matchups. Chasing the outliers gives us a false sense that their money and attention is more valuable than our own, and that's not the case.
MULTIMEDIA HALFTIME
He's not easy on the eyes, but Eric Olanowski is crushing these recaps
Uguev is no joke
Destribas won …
Q: What do you think of Russia's doping ban being reduced from four years to two years? What does this mean for international wrestling?
-- Mike C.
Foley: There is far too much political entanglement to the story of Russia, doping, and the Olympic Games for me to give you an answer that would be somehow more enlightening than what was already put online by CAS and investigators. In short, they seemed to have cheated but have made changes to their anti-doping programs and a two Olympic Games ban was deemed bad enough. After reviewing the case, CAS halved the number of years.
There isn't much impact on international wrestling outside of not having to hear the Russian anthem after each gold medal. Truthfully, I think that stings for the athletes who feel national pride in what they have achieved. The wrestlers will still compete, but with no national representation it must be under a neutral flag.
The only decision to be determined is whether or not the 2022 World Championships will still be held in Krasnoyarsk. I don't think that has been sorted since it was awarded prior to the announcement of the investigations. Watch the UWW homepage for announcements when its made clear by the IOC what needs to occur.
Q: Were you surprised Yoel Romero was cut by the UFC? Bellator picked him up.
-- Mike C.
Foley: No. The UFC goes through a mass culling four-times a year and Yoel, while explosive and fun to watch, is long in the tooth and wasn't lining up for another championship run. Bellator's lineup is exciting and he'll have plenty of opportunity for good money matchups and a place for him to showcase his full talent. I'd always had the impression that Yoel was given the opportunities but wasn't able to fully match the moment. Maybe in Bellator he'll have less pressure and find big victories that eluded him in the Octagon.
Love Yoel and hope to see him fight many more times.
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