Kyle Snyder has made one thing clear: being a great MMA star does not make you an Olympic-level wrestler.
The 2016 Olympic gold medalist and four-time world champion appeared on the Weighing In podcast and the host did not shy away from asking the tough question.
If Khabib Nurmagomedov, Islam Makhachev, and Khamzat Chimaev were placed in a wrestling room with Olympic-level wrestlers, how would they fare?
“It’d be bad for them,” Snyder said. “I mean, that’s wrestling. Obviously these guys are the best in the world at figh ting, but I think they would do well against maybe some collegiate guys, but Olympic level, no.”
He was equally blunt when asked to compare Chimaev directly with Bo Nickel, one of America’s top wrestlers. “Bo,” Snyder said simply.
Despite his assessment of the MMA stars’ wrestling limitations, Snyder has nothing but respect for the Dagestani culture that produces so many elite combat athletes. He spent a week in Dagestan in 2021 and described it as one of the most memorable trips of his life. The wrestling rooms he visited were packed with young kids receiving top-level coaching from the same trainers who work with world champions.
He also spoke about the deeper motivation that drives Dagestani wrestlers. In the villages he visited, young athletes understood that excelling at wrestling was a path to a different life, one that could change not just their own circumstances but their entire family’s future.
Snyder’s upcoming match with Abdulrashid Sadulaev is part of what he describes as probably the greatest rivalry in wrestling, combining the USA vs. Russia storyline with the legacy of Dagestan as arguably the world’s greatest wrestling region. Snyder is currently 1-3 in the series, though he does not count a medical forfeit in the overall tally.
The match airs on Fox Nation on July 11th.
