The 2025 Senior World Championships will take place in Zagreb, Croatia, from September 13 to 21. The 125 kg weight class in men’s freestyle will be in the first group of weight classes wrestled at worlds this year on September 13 and 14. Team USA’s Wyatt Hendrickson will be making his Senior World Championship debut and will look to take out Iran's World Champion Amir Zare. Check out the article below for a full breakdown, along with our medal predictions, for 125 kg at this year’s World Championships

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125 kg 2025 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.

125 kg 2025 World Championship Seeds

1. Giorgi Meshvildishvili, AZE
2. Amir Zare, IRI 
3. Dzianis Khramiankou, BLR 
4. Robert Baran, POL 
5. Lkhagvagerel Munkhtur, MGL
6. Shamil Sharipov, BRN
7. Solomon Manashvili, GEO
8. Jonovan Smith, PUR 

The Favorite

• Amir Zare, IRI - 2021 & 2023 World Gold, 2024 Olympic Silver, 2020 Olympic Bronze, 2022 World Bronze

Heavyweight will look a little different this year at Worlds without Taha Akgul and Geno Petriashvili. Akgul has officially retired from competition, and Petriashvili is taking a year off. This clears the way significantly for Zare, considering Petriashvili and Akgul are the only two wrestlers Zare has lost to in the past 4 years. 

Zare has been one of the best heavyweights in the world for the past 5 years, and he’s still just 24-years old. He wrestles a classic Iranian style, relying on his underhooks and pressure to overwhelm his opponents. Zare has defeated essentially every wrestler in this bracket, with notable victories over Shamil Sharipov, Dzianis Khramiankou, and Lkhagvagerel Munkhtur. Zare is as dominant as they come, and he might be the biggest gold medal favorite of any wrestler at Worlds.

Zare's win in the 2021 World Finals over Geno Petriashvili:

The Contenders

• Lkhagvagerel Munkhtur, MGL - 2022 World Silver, 2019 & 2021 World Bronze
• Giorgi Meshvildishvili, AZE - 2024 Olympic Bronze
• Wyatt Hendrickson, USA - 2023 U23 World Gold

This group of contenders is strong, but as mentioned above, none have defeated Amir Zare. Mongolia’s Lkhagvagerel Munkhtur leads the way as the most accomplished wrestler of this group, and he also has the most notable wins. Munkhtur’s hitlist includes victories over Geno Petriashvili, Mason Parris, Amirreza Masoumi, Greg Kerkvliet, and several other past world/Olympic medalists. Munkhtur is deceivingly athletic and has fantastic defense that he uses to punish opponents who take errant shots. Munkhtur’s path to victory against Zare is narrow, but no one should be surprised if he reaches the finals out of the #5 seed. 

Munkhtur's win over Geno Petriashvili in the 2022 World Semifinals:

While Munkhtur might be the most accomplished wrestler outside of Munkhtur, Giorgi Meshvildishvili is the #1 seed and should be considered the favorite to reach the finals opposite Amir Zare. Meshvildishvili won a bronze medal at the 2024 Olympics while recording victories over Munkhtur and Robert Baran. Meshvildishvili proved his performance in Paris wasn’t a fluke by winning gold at the European Championships this year with notable victories over Solomon Manashvili and Dzianis Khramiankou. Originally from Georgia, Meshvildishvili is 33 years old and an athletic heavyweight with solid leg attacks. Outside of Zare, Meshvildishvili has the skills to defeat anyone in the 125 kg bracket. 

Meshvildishvili's win over Dzianis Khramiankou in the 2025 Euro Semifinals:

Wyatt Hendrickson is the biggest wildcard in this bracket, and many believe he is the man to defeat Amir Zare. Hendrickson is riding incredible momentum into Worlds after an undefeated NCAA season, highlighted by a victory over 2020 Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveson in the NCAA finals, which catapulted him to winning the Hodge Trophy. Hendrickson’s athleticism and offensive potential are simply unmatched at heavyweight. On top of his neutral offense, Hendrickson also has an outstanding gut wrench that he hits with high frequency on almost every opponent. Can Hendrickson’s offense work on Zare, and can Hendrickson handle Zare’s underhook and pressure in the hand fight? We’ll find out the answer to those questions in Zagreb!

Wyatt Hendrickson's dominant win in the finals of the 2025 Pan-Am Championships:

Hendrickson breaks down his potential match against Zare:

Watch Out For This Group

• Dzianis Khramiankou, BLR - 2017 U23 World Silver, 2019 U23 World Bronze, 2015 U20 World Silver, 2016 U20 World Bronze
• Abdulla Kurbanov, RUS - 2024 U23 World Bronze, 2023 Senior World 5th
• Alen Khubulov, BUL - 2024 U23 World Silver
• Azamat Khosonov, GRE - 2021 U23 World Silver, 2023 U23 World Bronze
• Murazi Mchedlidze, UKR - 2017 U23 World Bronze
• Khasanboy Rakhimov, UZB - 2018 U20 World Bronze
• Alisher Yergali, KAZ - 2022 U23 World Bronze, 2018 U20 World Silver
• Solomon Manashvili, GEO - 2022 U23 World Silver
• Hakan Buyukcingil, TUR - 2023 & 2024 U20 World Bronze

While none of the above NINE wrestlers have medaled on the senior level, all have age-level world medals. In order to keep things brief, we're not going to give a detailed breakdown of each wrestler in this group, but this tier of wrestlers shows how deep the 125 kg bracket is at Worlds this year. These wrestlers are all skilled, and if one of the top four wrestlers is upset in Zagreb, it will likely come from a wrestler in this group.

Sleepers & Landmines

• Shamil Sharipov, BRN - 2024 & 2025 Asian Bronze
• Mohsen Siyar, GER - 2025 Yasar Dogu Gold

Sharipov and Siyar are two wrestlers to watch out for who could make some noise at Worlds. Sharipov is a Russian transfer, while Siyar is a rare Iranian transfer. Sharipov almost cemented himself as Russia’s #1 heavyweight five years ago when he won the Individual World Cup with victories over Robert Baran, Dzianis Khramiankou, and Oleksandr Khotsianivskyi. Unfortunately, Sharipov failed to qualify for the Olympics and felt the need to transfer to Bahrain. Since the transfer, Sharipov has struggled to find the same level of success he had in 2020, but things have been looking up for him this year. Sharipov won bronze at the Asian Championships in March and then followed that up with a gold medal performance at the Budapest Ranking Series Tournament in July. In Budapest, Sharipov recorded victories over Dzianis Khramiankou, Alen Khubulov, and Vladislav Baitsaev. Sharipov is still only 28 and might just be entering his prime.

Sharipov's win for bronze at the 2025 Asian Championships:

Mohsen Siyar was basically unheard of before this year, but is definitely a competitor to watch out for in Zagreb. Siyar failed to medal at Euros after losing to Russia’s Zelimkhan Khizriev on criteria (8-8). However, Siyar responded to that performance by winning Gold at the Yasar Dogu and bronze at the Ziolkowski. In those two competitions, Siyar notched victories over Robert Baran, Murazi Mchedlidze, Alisher Yergali, and Hakan Buyukcingil, while only losing a close 5-2 match to Giorgi Meshvildishvili. Because of his success this year, Siyar shouldn’t take any wrestler in the bracket by surprise, but the casual wrestling fan might learn just how good Siyar is this year. 

125 kg World Championship Predictions

Every ounce of my American blood wants to pick Wyatt Hendrickson to win gold at Worlds this year, but I just don’t think he’s ready for the unique challenge Amir Zare presents. Everyone knows Zare is going to underhook you and try to push you out of bounds, but stopping it is an entirely different task. Hendrickson is a special talent, and he might be able to adjust to Zare’s pressure, but unfortunately for American fans, I think Zare will be too much to handle this year. 

Full 125 kg Medal Predictions

Gold - Amir Zare, IRI

Silver - Wyatt Hendrickson, USA

Bronze - Giorgi Meshvildishvili, AZE

Bronze - Shamil Sharipov, BRN