One of the top wrestlers on the Senior Circuit, Aliyev has been making a name for himself since 2014. Competing for Azerbaijan, Aliyev made an immediate splash winning both the European and world championships before going back to back at the worlds in 2015 at 61KG. Aliyev would go on to take bronze at the Olympic Games in Rio competing at 57KG, but made his way back to the top of the podium at the following world championships competing back at 61KG.
Jordan Burroughs & Dan Dennis Bracket Reactions
Aug 18, 2016
Brackets on FloArena | 57kg Preview | 74kg Preview
Day six draws are out and we know how the road lays out for Jordan Burroughs and Dan Dennis.
Burroughs road to a second Olympic gold starts off with Augusto Midana (GBS), the same opponent who Burroughs tore his ACL against in the 2014 world championships. Midana is competing in his third Olympic Games, and has been Guinea-Bissau's flag bearer each time.
After that comes the bear Aniuar Geduev (RUS) in the quarterfinals. Geduev was Burroughs’ toughest match by far last year in Vegas. We need this would be a possibility since their match came in the semis last year instead of the finals.
The Russian won all three European titles from 2013-2015, but has only wrestled once this year, at Russian Nationals. Should Burroughs take out Geduev again, we could see him against one of Makarashvili (GEO), Ivanov (BUL) or Hasanov (AZE).
The bottom half of 74kg is laid out very evenly, with the most interesting first round bout being a rematch of last year's bronze medal match between Narsingh Yadav (IND) and Zelimkhan Khadjiev (FRA). Winner of that gets 2014 world silver Sosuka Takatani (JPN), and then Livan Lopez Azcuy (CUB) to make the finals.
American fans probably most hope to see Hassan Yazdani Charati (IRI), the young prospect Iranian fans have been clamoring to see against Burroughs.
Dan Dennis lands on the top half of 57kg, and has his European doppelganger in round one. Vladimir Dubov (BUL) has one of the best gut wrenches in the world at this weight, so getting on top will be crucial for both of those guys. Dubov is ranked third in the world at 61kg, where he was bronze last year and silver back in 2013 at 60kg.
In the second round, Dennis could have either Ivan Guidea (ROU) or Suleyman Atli (TUR), but my money’s on Atli. The 2013 junior world champ had a great World Cup but did not wrestle Dennis.
The top quarter will be very interesting, as Dennis should see the winner of Vladimer Khinchegashvili (GEO) and Haji Aliyev (AZE) in the semis. Those two met at the European Championship in March, with Khinchegashvili coming out on top of their 61kg semifinal.
On the other side of 57kg, both quarterfinals line up to be incredible matchups. We could very well see Hassan Rahimi (IRI) vs Viktor Lebedev (RUS) for the third consecutive year; Rahimi was won both matchups. The other one should come down to Yang Kyong-il (PRK) and Yowlys Bonne Rodriguez (CUB), a phenomenal style contrast. Yang has some of the cleanest shots in the sport, while Bonne is a counter maestro. Be sure to tune in tomorrow at 8am central time to see how it all plays out.
