The 2026 Senior World Championships are taking place in Astana, Kazakhstan, from October 24 through November 1 and will be streamed live on Flowrestling. Kyle Snyder will be competing once again for Team USA at 97 kg and will be in what is perhaps the greatest World Championship bracket of all time. Kyle Snyder, Abdulrashid Sadulaev, Akhmed Tazhudinov, and Hassan Yazdani are all legendary World and Olympic champions in the bracket. Beyond the big four, there is 1 other world champion and four other world medalists. 97 kg is the most anticipated weight of the World Championships, and before it goes down, read the article below for a full preview and predictions for this incredible weight class.

97 kg World Championship Rankings

97 kg World Championship Seeds

1. Kyle Snyder, USA
2. Akhmed Tazhudinov, BRN
3. Arash Yoshida, JPN
4. Akhmed Magamaev, BUL
5. Zbigniew Baranowski, POL
6. Vicky, IND
7. Richard Vegh, HUN
8. Abdulrashid Sadulaev, RUS

Title Contenders

• Kyle Snyder, USA
• Abdulrashid Sadulaev, RUS
• Arash Yoshida, JPN
• Hassan Yazdani, IRI
• Akhmed Tazhudinov, BRN

This group of five contenders is by far the strongest at the World Championships this year. Kyle Snyder, Abdulrashid Sadulaev, Hassan Yazdani, and Akhmed Tazhudinov are ALL world and Olympic champions. Japan's Arash Yoshida won bronze at last year's Worlds, has a recent 15-6 win over Akhmed Tazhudinov, and also defeated Kyle Snyder last year. This top-end talent makes 97 kg the most anticipated weight in all of men's freestyle.

Kyle Snyder will be the #1 seed at Worlds and is looking for his 11th career world/Olympic medal this year. Though Snyder failed to medal at the 2024 Olympics, he's wrestled as well as ever since then, winning Worlds last year and defeating Abdulrashid Sadulaev this year. Since the Olympics, Snyder is 28-3 with significant wins over Abdulrashid Sadulaev, Akhmed Tazhudinov (twice), Rizabek Aitmukhan, Arash Yoshida, Amirali Azarpira, and a host of other top-20-ranked guys in the world. Yes, Snyder suffered losses to Mukhamed-Takhir Khaniev and Stephen Buchanan this year, but what I think is more important is that Snyder is defeating wrestlers like Tazhudinov and Sadulaev now. Previously, Snyder had lost three straight matches to Sadulaev and two straight to Tazhudinov. Though he's been on the senior level for over 10 years, Snyder continues to improve and hasn't shown any signs of regression. Snyder's the favorite in my eyes entering Worlds, and if he wrestles his best, I think he has a great chance to win the world's toughest bracket.

Snyder's win in the 2025 World Finals over Amirali Azarpira:

Abdulrashid Sadulaev's career has been chaotic over the past few years. After winning four straight golds from 2018 to 2021, Sadulaev has only won gold once since then - the 92 kg world gold at the 2024 non-Olympic World Championships. Russia's ban kept him out of Worlds in 2022 and the Olympics in 2024, he injury defaulted out of the tournament in 2023, and he was banned from entering Croatia last year. Now, this year, Sadulaev appeared to be wrestling better than ever, winning both the Muhamet Malo in February and the European Championships in April. However, in July, Sadulaev injured his knee while wrestling Kyle Snyder at RAF Tbilisi. He then struggled against Zac Braunagel in September and barely defeated Magomed Kurbanov to make the world team a week ago. Still, Sadulaev might be the greatest freestyler of all time and has looked less than at his peak in past years, only to go to the World Championships and destroy the field. Is this the beginning of the end for Sadulaev, or will he once again remind us of his greatness? We'll find out soon in Kazakhstan!

Sadulaev's win over David Taylor at 2024 Worlds:

Arash Yoshida might be overlooked by many because he's not one of the Olympic champions in this bracket, but anyone who knows wrestling knows Yoshida can win this bracket. Yoshida is only 22 years old and already has a hit list that includes victories over Kyle Snyder, Akhmed Tazhudinov, Rizabek Aitmukhan, Amirali Azarpira, Givi Matcharashvili, and Vladislav Valiev. Yoshida has only lost twice since 2024 (Snyder and Azarpira) and looks to only be getting better. As the #3 seed, Yoshida will be opposite both Snyder and Sadulaev. With only Tazhudinov in his way, I think Yoshida should be considered a strong favorite to reach the finals.

Yoshida's win over Kyle Snyder from February of 2025:

Hassan Yazdani returns to the World Championships after missing all of last year with an injury. His 2026 got off to a rocky start after losing to Stephen Buchanan in the finals of the Zagreb Open in February. We haven't seen Yazdani compete internationally since then, but he recently defeated last year's silver medalist Amirali Azarpira in two straight matches to make the world team for Iran at 97 kg. In those matches against Azarpira, Yazdani looked much more like himself than he did against Buchanan. If Yazdani can bring the same signature pace and pressure at 97 kg that he dominated the world with at 86 kg, he can overwhelm anyone in this bracket. I do think Yazdani will struggle with the strength and handfighting of this top tier, but Yazdani is the ultimate competitor and will be one of the most interesting wrestlers to watch in Astana.

Yazdani's first international match at 97 kg:

Akhmed Tazhudinov took the world by storm when he teched Kyle Snyder and defeated Abdulrashid Sadulaev on his way to winning the 97 kg world title in 2023. After following it up with Olympic gold in 2024, it seemed that Tazhudinov would win for as long as he wanted. However, since Paris, Tazhudinov is only 16-5 with losses to Kyle Snyder (3-3 and 11-5), Arash Yoshida (15-6), Rizabek Aitmukhan (15-3), and Amirali Azarpira (5-2). It's clear that Tazhudinov has regressed, and maybe he shouldn't even be in the "Title Contenders" category because of his recent poor performances. However, you have to believe Tazhudinov is still capable of getting back to his peak form of 2023 and 2024.

Tazhudinov's win over Kyle Snyder at the 2023 World Championships:

Medal Contenders

• Rizabek Aitmukhan, KAZ
• Zbigniew Baranowski, POL
• Batyrbek Tcakulov, SVK
• Givi Matcharashvili, GEO
• Magomedkhan Magomedov, AZE

The above list of medal contenders also displays how incredible 97 kg is. Rizabek Aitmukhan is a world champion, and Batyrbek Tcakulov, Givi Matcharashvili, and Magomedkhan Magomedov are all past world medalists. The only non-world medalist, Zbigniew Baranowski, just defeated Matcharashvili and was 5th at Worlds last year.

Rizabek Aitmukhan won the 92 kg world title in 2023 and has a hit list that includes victories over Akhmed Tazhudinov, Magomedkhan Magomedov, Batyrbek Tcakulov, and several other world medalists. So, why isn't Aitmukhan considered a title contender? Aitmukhan has struggled against both Yoshida and Kyle Snyder, losing 11-1 to Yoshida at the Asian Games just a few weeks ago and 12-6 to Kyle Snyder at RAF in April. It's also worth noting that Aitmukhan will be randomly drawn into the bracket, and that means he'll be on the same side as either Snyder and Sadulaev or Yoshida and Tazhudinov. Aitmukhan is a big underdog to make the finals, but he's clearly established himself as the next best guy after the top tier at 97 kg.

Aitmukhan's win in the 2023 World Finals:

As mentioned above, Zbigniew Baranowski is fresh off a 4-1 win over Givi Matcharashvili at the Ziolkowski in late August. Baranowski will be the #5 seed and is likely the favorite to reach the semis opposite Snyder/Sadulaev (as long as Yazdani or Aitmukhan isn't drawn into his quarter). Baranowski is a seasoned vet and has wrestled at 8 Worlds and 2 Olympics. With his hit list and experience, it feels like it's only a matter of time until he reaches the podium. It will certainly be tough going through either Snyder or Sadulaev, but Baranowski is a great underdog pick to reach the podium in this bracket.

Batyrbek Tcakulov is a Russian who now represents Slovakia and is a two-time world medalist - silver in 2022 and bronze in 2024. Tcakulov has always struggled against the top tier at 97 kg, but he has enough victories over the second tier to keep him in as a medal contender. If Tcakulov is drawn into the bottom side of the bracket, he absolutely can make a run to a medal match.

Givi Matcharashvili is a 3-time world/Olympic medalist, winning bronze at Worlds in 2022 and 2023 and silver at the 2024 Olympic Games. This year, Matcharashvili has notable victories over Stephen Buchanan, Osman Nurmagomedov, and Zbigniew Baranowski while only losing to Baranowski, Snyder, Tcakulov, and Yoshida. Similar to the other medal contenders, Matcharashvili is unlikely to make the finals, but his consistency throughout the years proves he wrestles his best on the biggest stage. With the right draw, Matcharashvili could be taking home his third world medal from Astana.

Magomedkhan Magomedov is the final wrestler that should be considered a medal threat this year. Magomedov is also a three-time world/Olympic medalist, winning Olympic bronze in 2024, world bronze in [YEAR], and world silver in 2023. Magomedov is 0-5 against Kyle Snyder but has significant victories over Rizabek Aitmukhan, Batyrbek Tcakulov, and Givi Matcharashvili. Like the other medal contenders, the draw is key here, and if Magomedov is on the bottom side of the bracket, his path to a medal becomes much clearer than if he is on the top side.

Sleepers & Landmines

• Arturo Silot, CUB
• Sherzod Poyonov, UZB

Because of the depth at 97 kg, it's hard to imagine anyone outside of the top 10 at this weight making any significant run in this bracket. With that in mind, Silot and Poyonov are great dark horse wrestlers to watch. American fans learned of Silot's existence after he teched Stephen Buchanan at the Pan-Am Championships in April with some big throws. It might take a big throw to pull off a big upset at 97 kg this year, and Silot certainly has the skill to do it. Beyond his performance against Buchanan, Silot has never beaten a world/Olympic medalist but has been rock-solid for Cuba since 2019. Along with his gold medal performance at Pan-Ams this year, he's been 2nd at Pan-Ams 4 times in his career and even placed 5th at the prestigious Ivan Yarygin Tournament in 2019. Will Silot medal at Worlds? Probably not, but could he upset a contender? Absolutely!

Sherzod Poyonov is one of Uzbekistan's brightest prospects, and someone I'm very excited to watch on the senior level. Poyonov is fresh off an Asian Games silver medal, where he lost only to Amirali Azarpira but defeated world silver medalist Deepak Punia and world 5th-place finisher Magomed Sharipov. Poyonov was a U23 world bronze medalist last year but failed to place this year after suffering a close loss to Iran's Mohammadmobin Azimi. I think we'll see Poyonov wrestling at the World Championships and Olympics for years to come, and while it might be a little early for him to medal this year, he's the one guy outside of the top 10 at 97 kg who I wouldn't be surprised to see reach the podium.

97 kg World Championship Prediction

How do you predict this weight?! Snyder, Sadulaev, Yazdani, Yoshida, and Tazhudinov make this a historic weight and one we'll likely be talking about for years to come. Of this group, I think Snyder has been wrestling the best this year, and because of that, he's my pick to win gold in Astana. Regardless of how the bracket plays out, this weight is a wrestling fan's dream, and we'll see incredible matches from the first round on - you're not going to want to miss a second of this weight class in Kazakhstan!

Full 97 kg Medal Predictions

Gold - Kyle Snyder, USA

Silver - Hassan Yazdani, IRI

Bronze - Abdulrashid Sadulaev, RUS

Bronze - Arash Yoshida, JPN 

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