Latvian Legend: Aleksandr Chizov Continues to Climb the PFL Ladder

Aleksandr Chizov is becoming a household name for the PFL. His success with the PFL is nothing short of heroic for the Latvian people, and his success comes from hard work, dedication, and preparation. 

He debuted in the PFL in 2022. After winning his first fight in the PFL tournament, he lost in the next round, then lost in the first round the following year. However, he took a massive step in his career last year, winning via first round knockout against Mark Ewen. It was the perfect start to his new PFL run.

Chizov went on to win his next fight via split decision against Claudio Pacella in a back and forth war. The most impressive part of Chizov’s fight against Pacella was his fighting IQ. He knew it was close, found ways to steal points, and made sure to keep the fight in advantageous positions. The fight was exciting, competitive, and extremely close. Chizov was the more active fighter and showed solid durability to win the fight over three rounds. 

After a solid learning experience, Chizov entered the biggest fight of his MMA career in the European PFL Championship against Connor Hughes. He was a pretty big underdog at 2.40, but the gap in skills was closer than the oddsmakers thought. Similar to his previous fight, his toughness was a big part of his success, and he was able to take Hughes into deep waters and force him into a brawl. In what was one of the more exciting knockouts for the PFL, Chizov finished the fight in the third round to win the PFL European Title. 

After becoming the European champion, Chizov is on his way to North America to co-headline the PFL Sioux Falls card on May 2nd. In what will be the co-main event, Chizov takes on his toughest test yet, Gadzhi Rabadanov. Let’s take a closer look at the fight.

Aleksandr Chizov vs. Gadzhi Rabadanov Breakdown

Rabadanov is nothing short of an elite fighter. While he has losses on his record, his overall skill is obvious. He is another trained fighter under Khabib Nurmagomedov’s family and hails from Dagestan. Unlike some of the more classic wrestlers and sambo fighters, Rabadanov has solid striking and carries some power.

After being finished early in his career, Rabadanov has just two decision losses since 2016. He was 5-0 in Bellator and is currently 7-1 with the PFL. He lost his last fight in a surprising decision loss to Alfie Davis, but he was riding a 12-fight win streak prior to that, finishing five of those fights. The peak of his career so far was beating Brent Primus for the 2024 PFL Championships during the tournament era. He made his mark and was thereafter one of the best fighters in the promotion.

The mix of sambo and striking has proven to be a solid combination, but it’s clear that, if he can’t finish the fight early, there is a path to victory for fighters who can weather the storm, find ways to keep it on the feet, and mix it up well. There is one fighter who has proven to do that in his last two fights, and his name is Aleksandr Chizov.

Other than a finish back in 2017, Chizov hasn’t been finished on the feet. He was caught in heel hook by Daniele Scatizzi in 2024, but those are the only two times he’s been finished in his career. He has shown power and durability during his recent surge, but it will take much more to beat Rabadanov this time around.

The big question is can Chizov deal with the sambo? With how tough and powerful he looked on the feet, the proper gameplan for Rabadanov would be to take him down, and look for a ground and pound or a submission. Chizov has to be ready for that. If it’s competitive on the feet, Rabadanov will use the clinch and the fence to fight for position. If he gets Chizov to the ground, it’s going to be a lot harder to get up this time.

If he can avoid the ground battle, he needs to turn this into a war. There’s no reason to get caught up in a technical battle with Rabadanov. Make it ugly, look for big shots, keep that boxing range and turn it into a brawl. Feed the body and look to tire him out. The uglier the fight gets, the better it is for Chizov. He’ll likely be a massive underdog when the lines release, but there is a path to victory for him to shock the world.

Check out Chizov in action on May 2nd on PFL Sioux Falls. The card is headlined by Logan Storley and Florim Zendeli, but it’s almost guaranteed that the Chizov-Rabadanov fight will be far more exciting. Keep it locked to SlotsFighter to get all the information you need leading up to the biggest fight of his career, and don’t forget to follow SlotsFighter and SOOKY MMA on Instagram.