Eldar Rafigaev - A Top BJJ Black Belt Champion

Eldar Rafigaev is a second-degree Black belt fighter associated with coach Fernando Araujo. He is famously known as Yakuza because of tattoos all over his body. He won several IBJJF gi and No-gi Championships and made his name in BJJ World. He also participated in many International BJJ tournaments such as Abu Dhabi, and European Open, etc., and is famous for his Foot Lock submission style.

Eldar Rafigaev was born in Chisinau, Moldova the Eastern part of Europe on the 14th of April, 1987. From a very young age, Eldar Rafigaev was fond of sports. He was brought up by his mother who always asked him to participate in every kind of athletic sport. So, Eldar Rafigaev participated in basketball, running, volleyball, and soccer during his childhood. But he always played very rough in all the games.

Eldar Rafigaev completed his education at a university till the age of 19. After that, he left University and moved to Prague, Czech Republic. Eldar Rafigaev moved to the Czech Republic to make a living there.

Shortly after moving from Moldova to Prague, he started working at a construction company to earn his living. After some time he started training boxing because of his weight which was 115kg at that time. Soon he became very good at boxing after some training.

Eldar Rafigaev’s nickname is Yakuza. This nickname was bestowed on him by his boxing partner. The main reason behind this nickname is that Eldar Rafigaev was very fond of Japanese tattoos and covered almost all of his body with these tattoos. This style was a specialty of Yakuza, that‘s why his boxing partner called him Yakuza.

While working in a boxing academy, Eldar Rafigaev often heard of BJJ. But he never took an interest in this game. After one year at the boxing academy, at the age of 24, he signed himself up for a BJJ class at a local academy. The instructor of that academy was 50 years old, a blue belt, and motivated him so much that in the very next week, Yakunza was attending regular classes of BJJ. Rafigaev got his Blue belt after one year of dedication and hard work.

After securing his Blue belt, Eldar Rafigaev switched his academy to Jungle BJJ. Jungle BJJ was one of the competitive and best academies of that time run by coach Fernando Araujo. In this academy, Rafigaev put his best efforts into training. He sharpened his skills and worked so hard that after almost 6 years in 2017, he conquered his Black belt in the UAEJJF competition.

In an interview, Eldar Rafigaev talked about his personal life and said that he had several injuries throughout his BJJ career. But he recovered after almost 3 weeks and was back on the mat. He explained further by saying that he had one on his elbow and three injuries on his knee.

Eldar Rafigaev has a daughter of 10 years. He often traveled to other cities and countries for BJJ competitions and took his daughter with him. In an interview, he said that his favorite hobby is skateboarding and loved to do that with his daughter.

At present, Eldar Rafigaev is a second-degree Black belt Champion under Fernando Araujo. He is still training at Jungle BJJ seven days a week. In an interview, he said that in the beginning, he got his training 5 times a day, but now he trains two times a day and seven days a week. He starts his first training of the day at 8 or 9 am, and the afternoon training starts at 6 pm and lasts until 9:30 pm. Rafigaev ranks among the top 10 BJJ fighters in the IBJJF No-Gi Competitions. During an interview, he said that he has a quote that helps him get out of bed for training daily. That quote is,

In the final round of the IBJJF German National 2018 competition for the Ultra Heavyweight class division, Eldar Rafigaev fought with another Balck belt champion, Rodrigo Silva. The fight only lasted for 40 seconds. In the starting 30 seconds Eldar Rafigaev brilliantly submitted the opponent by choke from back submission and won the match.

In the final of the IBJJF Poznan Open 2019 Championship for the ultra heavyweight class division, Eldar Rafigaev faced a top fighter Dmitrii Vostrikov. The match only lasted for a minute. In the start both the players tried to take down each other. Shortly after starting the match, the opponent tapped out and Eldar Rafigaev won the match by toe-hold submission.

In the final stage of the Paris Spring Open 2019 for the Absolute weight category, Eldar Rafigaev fought with David Benzaken. It was a very short and amazing fight that lasted only for 35 seconds. Both the players performed well. But in the beginning, Eldar Rafigaev tried to submit the opponent by locking his foot which he succeeded, and won the match.

Eldar Rafigaev vs Rodrigo Silva / German National 2018

Eldar Rafigaev vs Dmitrii Vostrikov / Poznanń Open 2019

Eldar Rafigaev vs David Benzaken / Paris Spring Open 2019