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Wahed Nazhand (born January 02, 1994) is an Afghan mixed martial artist (MMA) who competes in the Welterweight division. Nazhand later relocated to Hamburg, Germany after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in 2021.
Early life and background
editMixed martial arts career
editNazhand competes in the welterweight division. Since leaving Afghanistan in 2021 due to Taliban rule, he fights out of Hamburg, Germany.[4]
Nazhand became associated with the early development of professional mixed martial arts in Afghanistan. In 2016, he defeated Samiullah Rahimi at Snow Leopard Fighting Championship 2 in Kabul.[5] He later competed in other Afghan MMA events, including Fight Night Afghanistan.[6]
In 2020, Nazhand fought Zaki Rasooli at Snow Leopard Fighting Championship for the welterweight championship.[7] Nazhand emerged with the SLFC welterweight championship belt.[8]
After the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in August 2021, Nazhand left the country and continued his career in Europe, becoming the first Afghan fighter to compete in the OKTAGON cafe [9]
Nazhand later competed in European promotions including OKTAGON MMA and NFC.[10] In September 2023, he defeated Tomasz Łangowski by rear-naked choke at NFC 15.[11] In 2025, he fought under the OKTAGON banner against Faridun Shokhnazarov at OKTAGON 73.[12]
Public image and views
editNazhand has been described as one of Afghanistan's best-known mixed martial artists.[13]
He has openly discussed how ethnic discrimination in Afghanistan affected his career progression, noting that when he was selected at age 20 to represent Afghanistan at an international MMA tournament in Italy, Afghan police raided his father's bookshop, found a gun, and arrested him. Nazhand attributed the incident and the loss of the opportunity to animosity between his ethnic background and the then Afghan government, saying, "Because I am Panjshiri they never gave me a chance."[14]
See also
edit- Mixed martial arts in Afghanistan
- Sport in Afghanistan
- Panjshir Province
References
edit- ↑ "Can MMA help bring peace to Kabul?". Esquire Middle East. 10 May 2017.
- ↑ "The Rough Journey of Wahes Nazhand. What Has He Gone Through?".
- ↑ Lutfi, Ali Latifi, Edris. "The Stone Eater, the Outlaw Scrapper, and the future of Afghanistan's MMA fighters". Business Insider.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ↑ "Wahed Nazhand ("The Stoneeater") | MMA Fighter Page". Tapology.
- ↑ "Can MMA help bring peace to Kabul?". 10 May 2017.
- ↑ "Wahed Nazhand ("The Stoneeater") | MMA Fighter Page".
- ↑ "Zaki Rasooli vs. Wahed Nazhand, SLFC | MMA Bout".
- ↑ "The Stone Eater, the Outlaw Scrapper, and the future of Afghanistan's MMA fighters". Business Insider.
- ↑ "The Stone Eater, the Outlaw Scrapper, and the future of Afghanistan's MMA fighters". Business Insider.
- ↑ "Fight Nation Championship".
- ↑ "Tomasz Łangowski vs. Wahed Nazhand, NFC 15 | MMA Bout".
- ↑ "Wahed Nazhand vs. Faridun Shokhnazarov, OKTAGON 73 | MMA Bout".
- ↑ "THE ROUGH JOURNEY OF WAHES NAZHAND. WHAT HAS HE GONE THROUGH?". OKTAGON.
- ↑ "Can MMA help bring peace to Kabul?". 10 May 2017.
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