Chamsulvara ChamsulvaraevIn September, Chamsulvaraev was killed when a car he was riding in was struck by a U.S. drone near Mosul, a city in Northern Iraq, according to news reports out of Russia.
The 32-year-old Chamsulvaraev was originally from Dagestan, Russia, a predominantly Muslim region of the country on the Caspian Sea near the borders of Georgia and Azerbaijan, where he began wrestling at an early age. When Chamsulvaraev was unable to qualify for the Russian national team, he became a naturalized Azerbaijani citizen to compete for their men's national freestyle team at 74 kilograms/163 pounds.
During his career, Chamsulvaraev won a silver medal at the World Wrestling Championships in 2009 and a bronze medal in 2007. Chamsulvaraev also competed a number of times at the European Championships, where he was a three-time bronze medalist, and a gold medal winner at the European championships at Vilnius, Lithuania in 2009. He also wrestled at the 2008 Beijing Olympics but did not place after losing to eventual bronze medalist Murad Gaidarov of Belarus.
In addition, BloodyElbow.com reported that Chamsulvaraev competed at the 2005 Super Cup event in Dagestan, where he wrestled Muhammed Lawal, an NCAA All-American for Oklahoma State who is now competing in mixed martial arts for Bellator as "King Mo" Lawal.
Chamsulvaraev retired from the sport of wrestling in 2014 and eventually joined the Islamic State terrorist group as a key recruiter in the region. He is believed to have converted and radicalized a pregnant teenager, Diana Ramazanova, who blew herself up in Istanbul, Turkey last year.
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