J'den Cox at the 2021 World Team Trials(Photo/Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com)Two-time world champion #13 J'den Cox (USA) makes his return to a rejuvenated 92 KG weight class but while gold was a guarantee from 2018-2019, Cox will be facing an uphill battle against the likes of #1 Magomed Kurbanov (RWF) and #2 Kamran Ghasempour (IRI). A mix of young and established talent round out the medal contender tier with #6 Zbigniew Baranowski (POL), #14 Osman Nurmagomedov (AZE), #11 Amarhadzhi Magomedov (BLR) and #8 Erhan Yaylacı (TUR). 2019 world medalist #15 Irakli Mtsituri (GEO) and 2020 Individual World Cup runner-up #17 Georgi Rubaev (MDA) are dangerous dark horses who while limited still are potential early match threats to higher ranked talent.
Title Contenders
#13 Alireza Karimimachiani (2016 world cup, 2018 world championships, 2019 world finals), #15 Irakli Mtsituri (2019 world semis) Key Losses: #5 (97) Sharif Sharifov(2016 Grand Prix of Germany, 2018 International Ukrainian tournament), Dato Marsagishvili(2016 World Cup, 2018 world cup), #7 Selim Yasar(2016 Olympics), #14 (86) Boris Makoev (2017 worlds), #1 (86) David Taylor (2017 world team trials), Aslanbek Alborov (2018 World Cup), Serdar Boke (2018 Yasar Dogu first round match 2-2), #12 Illia Archaia (2021 Ziolkowski) J'Den Cox Match Playlist
#1 Magomed Kurbanov (RWF) has taken a strong hold of the 92 KG weight class with the departure of world medalists #13 J'den Cox (USA), #13 (97) Alireza Karimimachiani (IRI) and #10 (97) Alikhan Zhabrailov (RWF). Boasting Russian Nationals, European and Yarygin gold, Kurbanov has earned his top billing. A pressure heavy grinder who drowns his opponents in deep waters, Kurbanov is a dangerous proposition to the other title contenders in #13 J'den Cox (USA) and #2 Kamran Ghasempour (IRI).
#2 Kamran Ghasempour (IRI) first made waves in 2018 at 86 KG when he beat out established Russian talents in Shamil Kudiyamagomedov (ITA), Alexander Gostiev (AZE) and two time World/Olympic medalist #3 (86) Artur Naifonov (RUS) to win gold at the International Ukrainian Tournament and the U-23 world championships. Undefeated for the past 3 years, Ghasempour's only roadblock to senior world gold has been three time World/Olympic champion #2 Hassan Yazdani Charati, losing in the 2018, 2019 and 2021 wrestle-offs for the World/Olympic championships. Ghasempour's best accomplishments at 92 KG have been an Asian championships gold medal in April and winning Iranian world team trials over 2020 Asian champion #3 Javad Ebrahimi (IRI).
#13 J'den Cox (USA) had been a fixture in the top of the pound for pound rankings due to his back to back world titles from 2018 and 2019 and wins over World/Olympic champions #1 (86) David Taylor (USA) and #3 (74) Kyle Dake (USA). But a rough transition to 97 KG that culminated in Cox missing the Olympic trials from missing weight that was followed up by a botched return to 92 KG that saw Cox lose to the unheralded #12 Illia Archaia (UKR) at the Ziolkowski has put Cox's back against the wall. Cox absolutely has the talent to win in this field and should be considered the favorite considering his past, but issues regarding his mindset and consistency make Cox as a surefire bet hard to buy.
Medal Contenders
Out of this group, I feel that U-23 European champion #8 Erhan Yaylaci (TUR) has made the most growth this year and is a serious contender to break through here. #6 Zbigniew Baranowski (POL) is always dangerous, but the same issues of pacing, issues with wrestling from ties and poor scrambling ability have prevented him from putting together a full run in a deep bracket for world hardware. 2016 Olympian #11 Amarhadzi Magomedov (BLR) has made a strong comeback campaign beating #12 Illia Archaia (UKR) and #15 Irakli Mtsituri (GEO) and taking gold at the Medved but against the title contender tear and more offensive young prospects like #8 Erhan Yaylaci (TUR), or #14 Osman Nurmagomedov (AZE), I see him struggling.
#14 Osman Nurmagomedov (AZE) is part of a new group of young Azerbaijan talent rising through the ranks like Turan Bayramov, Abubakar Abakarov and Dzhabrail Gadzhiev. Nurmagomedov has had strong showings for himself this year with runner-up finishes at the Henri Deglane Challenge and the U-23 European championships beating out #15 Irakli Mtsituri (GEO) and #5 Azamat Zakuev (RWF) along with a Senior European bronze medal. I'm really excited to see how he and Yaylaci do in this bracket and if they break through.
Dark Horses
2019 world bronze medalist #15 Irakli Mtsituri (GEO) has been someone who's been up and down over the quad as early on he's taking wins over transitioning Junior talent like #8 Erhan Yaylaci (TUR) and had strong performances over #3 Javad Ebrahimi (IRI) at the 2017 Tbilisi GP. While he's got a great technical acumen with his arm throws and high singles, he has struggled to put together full matches in a way that suggests he'd make a deep run in this deep of a field.
#17 Georgi Rubaev (MDA) is in the same boat of Mtsituri as someone who can shock good guys in close matches with a big early counter, but the deeper they get into a tournament against who can make them pay for standing up hunting for throws, they usually fall apart. Still, Rubaev and Mtsituri are dangerous early and should not be discounted as potential single off upset scares.
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