Video: Abdulrashid Sadulaev shuts out David Taylor in battle of Olympic gold medalists

Abdulrashid Sadulaev reminded the world just how good he is during the opening round of the Senior World Championships on Wednesday.

The 28-year-old from Dagestan, who has captured two Olympic gold medals, earned a dominant shutout performance over American David Taylor in one of the most anticipated wrestling matches in recent history. Sadulaev earned a 7-0 victory as he moved onto the next round of the tournament while adding another Olympic legend to his resume after Taylor won gold for the United States at the 2020 games.

The match took place at 92kgs — a weight class that doesn’t exist in the Olympics — with Taylor moving up from his usual 86kgs weight and Sadulaev dropping down after ruling over the 97kgs division for the past few years.

An early takedown attempt from Taylor led to the first score in the match as Sadulaev sprawled out and reversed positions for a quick two points. Another snap down, go behind for Sadulaev scored another two points as he went 4-0 at the end of the first period.

The second period played out much the same with Sadulaev scoring a point on a push out — forcing Taylor off the mat — and then another reversal for the final two points in the match. The final score ended at 7-0 with Sadulaev making a huge statement with his victory over Taylor.

The highly anticipated match took place after Sadulaev was forced to sit out of the 2024 Olympics as a Russian athlete who was not allowed to compete at the games in Paris after his home nation invaded the Ukraine. While many Russians ended up competing for different countries or appearing as neutral athletes, Sadulaev was one of a handful of wrestlers not allowed to compete at all.

The performance from Sadulaev also marked his return to the win column after his appearance at the 2023 World Championships ended in disappointment when he suffered an injury and ultimately a loss to Akhmed Tazhudinov in the finals at 97kgs. Tazhudinov ended up winning gold at the 2024 Olympics with a lopsided performance over the field including a win over American Kyle Snyder, who captured a gold medal of his own back in 2016.

With the win, Sadulaev stormed back to the top of the rankings while making a convincing argument that he may be the best wrestler of this entire generation.

As for Taylor, he suffers a defeat after he missed out on the 2024 Olympics following an upset loss to fellow Penn State alum Aaron Brooks during the U.S. Olympic trials. Brooks went onto capture a bronze medal in Taylor’s absence.