The 2025 Senior World Championships will take place in Zagreb, Croatia, from September 13 to 21. The 92 kg weight class in men’s freestyle will be in the second group of weight classes wrestled at worlds this year on September 14 and 15. Team USA’s Trent Hidlay will be one of the gold medal contenders at 92 kg, along with Greece's Dauren Kurugliev and Iran's Amir Firouzpour. Check out the article below for a full breakdown, along with our medal predictions, for 92 kg at this year’s World Championships.

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92 kg World Championship Rankings

The above rankings are based on results from head-to-head matchups. United World Wrestling seeds off of Rankings Points accumulated over the past year at the Olympics, Continental Championships, and Ranking Series Tournaments. Check out the full 2025 World Championship Rankings Here.

92 kg 2025 World Championship Seeds

1. Miriani Maisuradze, GEO
2. Benjamin Honis, ITA
3. Batyrbek Tsakulov, SVK
4. Osman Nurmagomedov, AZE
5. Dauren, Kurugliev, GRE
6. Amirhossein Firouzpour, IRI 
7. Lars Schaefle, GER
8. Trent Hidlay, USA

The Favorites

• Dauren Kurugliev, GRE - 2024 Olympic Bronze (86kg)
• Amir Firouzpour, IRI - 2021, 2022, & 2023 U23 World Gold, 2021 & 2022 U20 World Gold
• Trent Hidlay, USA - 2022 U23 World Silver, 2019 U20 World Bronze

Dauren Kurugliev, Amir Firouzpour, and Trent Hidlay will enter Worlds as the gold medal favorites based on their past accomplishments and recent results. Kurugliev, a Russian now representing Greece, is coming off a bronze medal performance at the 2024 Olympic Games. There, he lost to Hassan Yazdani (9-4) but defeated Myles Amine for bronze (5-4). Kurugliev is an incredible athlete with exceptional low-level attacks, complemented by some of the best leg defense in the world, regardless of weight class. Kurugliev just transitioned up to 92 kg this year after spending his entire career at 86 kg. He already has two victories over world silver medalist Osman Nurmagomedov and another victory over world bronze medalist Feyzullah Akturk. 

It’s worth noting that Trent Hidlay defeated Kurugliev in the semifinals of the Budapest Ranking Series Tournament by injury default. In that match, Hidlay secured a takedown in just under 45 seconds. During that takedown, it appeared that Kurugliev tweaked his knee and then immediately defaulted out of the match. While we didn’t learn much from that bout, it shows Hidlay is at least capable of taking down Kurugliev, and their potential semifinal match at Worlds will be one of the most highly anticipated bouts of the bracket.

Kurugliev's win over Osman Nurmagomedov in the 2025 Euro Finals:

Amir Firouzpour will be on the opposite side of the bracket from Hidlay and Kurugliev, and Firouzpour is the clear favorite to reach the gold medal match. Firouzpour has been stuck behind two-time world champion Kamran Ghasempour, but has won the U23 World Championships three times and U20s twice. Firouzpour loves to work from an underhook and often overwhelms his opponents with his pressure. Firouzpour also has outstanding leg defense and scores often from go-behinds off of his opponents’ shots. It’s worth noting that Firouzpour lost to both Nate Jackson and Osman Nurmagomedov at the 2022 World Cup but has since been nearly flawless at 92 kg.

Firouzpour's win over Jacob Cardenas in the 2024 U23 World Finals:

Trent Hidlay has ascended into title contention over the past six months after moving up from 86 kg in February. Since then, Hidlay has gone 14-0 with significant victories over Aeoden Sinclari, Eric Schultz, Josh Barr, Abubakr Abakarov, and Miriani Maisuradze. Also during that time frame, Hidlay has outscored his opponents by a combined score of 103-13 with 6 techs and 2 injury defaults. Hidlay is wrestling as good as ever and will be right in the mix to win gold with Kurugliev and Firouzpour. 

Hidlay's win over Josh Barr to make the 2025 World Team:

Hidlay's injury default win over Kurugliev:

The Contenders

• Osman Nurmagomedov, AZE - 2023 World Silver, 2021 & 2022 World Bronze, 2021 U23 World Gold
• Feyzullah Akturk, TUR - 2023 World Bronze, 2022 U23 World Bronze, 2017 & 2019 U20 World Bronze
• Miriani Maisuradze, GEO - 2022 & 2024 World Bronze, 2022 U23 World Bronze

The above three competitors have already medaled at Senior Worlds and should present the greatest challenges to the big three at this weight. Azerbaijan’s Osman Nurmagomedov leads this group and boasts a hitlist that includes victories over Zahid Valencia, Magomed Ramazanov (2024 Olympic champion), Amir Firouzpour, Arash Yoshida, Miriani Maisuradze, and several other accomplished wrestlers. Even with those wins, Nurmagomedov hasn’t been the most consistent wrestler, and his recent losses to Kurugliev, Firouzpor, Myles Amine, and Chance Marsteller prove that he might not have what it takes to make a run for gold. 

Osman Nurmagomedov's win over Zahid Valencia at the 2023 World Championships:

Feyzullah Akturk won a bronze medal at the 2023 World Championships and has essentially only lost to the best in the world over the past two years. In that time frame, Akturk has notable victories over Osman Nurmagomedov, Miriani Maisuradze, Boris Makoev, and Ahmed Bataev, while only losing to Dauren Kurugliev, Kamran Ghasempour, Rizabek Aitmukhan. Akturk is one of the more powerful wrestlers in this bracket and has fantastic reattacks that he uses to generate most of his neutral offense. Akturk will not be seeded and could create some chaos early in this bracket.

Akturk's win over Miriani Maisuradze at the 2025 European Championships:

Georgia’s Miriani Maisuradze will be the top seed in this bracket after winning a silver medal at Worlds last. On top of that performance, Maisuradze also won bronze at the European Championships this year and silver at the Budapest Rankings Series Tournament. In the past year, Maisuradze has only lost to Osman Nurmagomedov, Trent Hidlay, Kamran Ghasempour, and Abdulrashid Sadulaev. Maisuradze will have a tough path to the finals with a potential match with Hidlay in the quarters, but Maisuradze should not be underestimated. 

Maisuradze's win over Batyrbek Tsakulov at the 2024 World Championships:

Sleepers & Landmines

• Ben Honis, ITA - 2024 World 5th
• Magomed Sharipov, BRN - 2023 Worlds 5th
• Amanula Gadzhimageomedov, RUS

Past world medalists like Deepak Punia (IND) and Batyrbak Tsakulov (SVK) will be in the 92 kg bracket and are obviously wrestlers to watch out for. However, because of their accomplishments and recent performances, Punia and Tsakulov don’t fit the “Sleepers & Landmines” category quite like Honis, Sharipov, and Gadzhimagoedov. Honis and Sharipov have both made medal matches at past World Championships. If they’re wrestling their best, they’re capable of finding their way to another medal match.

Amanula Gadzhimagomedov is a true landmine. He won Russian Nationals with a dramatic last-second victory in the finals to make the world team. Beyond that, Gadzhimagomedov has very limited results internationally, with his best win coming over World and Olympic bronze medalist Artur Naifonov at 2023 Russian Nationals. Gadzhimagomedov recently lost to Mike Macchiavello at PWL 9 in Budapest in a match in which Gadzhimagomedov got visibly exhausted. I expect him to be in much better shape at Worlds, and he’s good enough to challenge the best in the world in Zagreb.

92 kg World Championship Predictions

I’d be shocked if anyone but Dauren Kurugliev, Amir Firouzpour, or Trent Hidlay wins the 92 kg bracket at Worlds. These three are the clear class of the weight and have separated themselves from the rest of the field. Maybe I'm just getting caught up in the hype, but Trent Hidlay is wrestling better than ever, and he's my pick to reach the top of the podium and win gold. Hidlay's path certainly won't be the easiest, but I think he has the style and skills to beat both Kurugliev and Firouzpour.

Full 92 kg Medal Predictions:

Gold - Trent Hidlay, USA

Silver - Amir Firouzpour, IRI

Bronze - Dauren Kurugliev, GRE

Bronze - Feyzullah Akturk, TUR