The Azerbaijani takeover is well underway after the incredible success of Tofiq Musayev (18-3) in Japan last year. RIZIN has signed another Azerbaijani fighter in the form of Vugar Keramov (14-3), a teammate of Musayev.
The signing was announced by Orion Fight Club’s Ruslan Efendiyev on his Instagram.
As of late, “Vugi” has been competing in the lightweight division, the same division as his teammate Musayev. Though this may seem problematic, Keramov has spent the vast majority of his career at featherweight. So it is safe to assume that he will return to the 145-lb division in the near future, to avoid a potential clash with Musayev.
Vugar Keramov is riding a ten-fight win streak, with the most recent coming against Gustavo Wurlitzer at Bellator 234 in Tel Aviv, Israel. That was an 89-second knockout, the ninth finish of this current ten-fight run. Keramov has not yet had the chance to compete for any big-time promotion, aside from the one-off prelim fight in Bellator. His fights, for the most part, consist of outings in regional events from Turkey, Azerbaijan, and China. As well as multiple fights in World Warriors Fighting Championships out of Ukraine.
As he heads into his RIZIN debut riding a ten-fight winning streak, the future looks very bright for the young, talented “Vugi.”
Tofiq Musayev entered the RIZIN ranks in 2018 riding a nine-fight win streak. In the 365 day span between December 31, 2018 and December 31, 2019, Musayev won five-straight fights, eventually winning the RIZIN Lightweight Grand-Prix. This run consisted of wins against UFC and Bellator veterans in Damien Brown, Daron Cruickshank, Johnny Case, and Patricky “Pitbull” Freire.
The Azerbaijani went from a compete unknown to 2019’s breakthrough fighter of the year. Will Vugar Keramov have a similar run in 2020? Only time will tell. But you can expect “Vugi” to debut very soon, likely RIZIN 21 in Hamamatsu next month.