The 61 kg weight class at the 2026 Senior World Championships features an Olympic champion, a returning world champion and one of the United States’ most promising young wrestlers.
Team USA’s Marcus Blaze will make his senior world championships debut in Astana, Kazakhstan, where he will face a loaded international field led by Russia’s Zavur Uguev.
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- 61 kg Preview & Predictions - 2026 Senior World Wrestling Championships
The reigning 61 kg world champion has won three world titles and Olympic gold, but Albania’s Zelimkhan Abakarov and Kyrgyzstan’s Omurbek Asan Uulu are among the challengers looking to disrupt his title defense.
Here are three reasons to watch 61 kg at the 2026 Senior World Championships.
1. Marcus Blaze Makes His Senior World Championships Debut
At just 19 years old, Marcus Blaze will get his first opportunity to compete at the senior world championships after building an impressive international resume in age-group competition.
Blaze won a U17 world title in 2023, earned bronze at the U20 World Championships in 2024 and captured U20 world gold in 2025. He has also established himself against senior-level competition, collecting victories over wrestlers including Jax Forrest, Luke Lilledahl, Daton Fix, Nathan Tomasello, Seth Gross and Austin DeSanto.
Blaze’s defensive ability will be a major factor in Astana. He rarely breaks position, gives up an average of just 1.5 points per match and is particularly effective at capitalizing on opponents’ mistakes.
The challenge will be generating offense if he falls behind against the world’s best. That could be especially important against Uguev, whose defensive positioning has helped him dominate opponents over the past two years.
Blaze is projected to be one of the top challengers for gold. His first senior world championships will provide a major test of how quickly he can translate his success in age-group wrestling to the sport’s highest level.
2. Can Anyone Stop Zavur Uguev?
Uguev enters the tournament as the clear favorite at 61 kg, and his resume explains why.
The Russian wrestler won Olympic gold at 57 kg at the 2020 Tokyo Games and captured world titles at 57 kg in 2018 and 2019. He added another world championship at 61 kg in 2025 and now has a chance to claim his fourth world title.
Uguev has won 27 consecutive matches since losing to Masanosuke Ono and Vito Arujau at the 2024 World Championships. During that streak, he has outscored his opponents 232-31, recorded 15 shutouts and earned 12 technical falls.
His recent wins include victories over Blaze’s fellow American Jax Forrest, Kazakhstan’s Assylzhan Yessengeldi, Armenia’s Arsen Harutyunyan, Iran’s Ahmad Javan and Albania’s Zelimkhan Abakarov.
Uguev’s defense and ability to control matches make him difficult to beat. He can shut down opponents’ offense while creating opportunities to score, a combination that has helped him remain unbeaten for more than two years.
Blaze and Abakarov are among the wrestlers with the strongest cases to challenge him. Whether either can break through Uguev’s defense is one of the biggest questions in the 61 kg bracket.
3. A Deep Field Gives Uguev Several Serious Challenges
Although Uguev is the favorite, the 61 kg field includes multiple wrestlers with the credentials and styles to make his path to another title difficult.
Abakarov is a former world champion, having won gold in 2022 after defeating Thomas Gilman in the final. He also owns a victory over Uguev, beating him 4-4 in the bronze medal match at the 2023 World Championships. Abakarov has been inconsistent since then, but his past results show he can challenge the favorite when he is at his best.
Asan Uulu is another intriguing contender. He won silver at the 2025 U23 World Championships after a high-scoring 17-14 loss to Jax Forrest in the final. Asan Uulu demonstrated his offensive potential throughout the tournament, recording several technical falls.
Other contenders could make the medal rounds even more unpredictable. Iran’s Ahmad Javan won silver at the 2025 World Championships, while Azerbaijan’s Nuraddin Novruzov earned bronze. Japan’s Toshihiro Hasegawa, a 2021 world bronze medalist, also returns to the international stage after making Japan’s team this year.
Keep an eye on North Korea’s Kwang Myong Kim as a potential spoiler, as he won gold at the Asian Championships.
Uguev has the resume to win another world title, but the depth of the field means one difficult matchup could change the tournament. Blaze’s debut, Abakarov’s championship experience and Asan Uulu’s offense give the 61 kg competition several storylines worth following.
How To Watch The 2026 Senior World Championships:
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