Abdulrashid Sadulaev Says There Are No Issues With Kyle Snyder
Abdulrashid Sadulaev has shut down the backlash aimed at Kyle Snyder after their last Real American Freestyle match. The two-time Olympic champion told Red Corner MMA that Snyder apologized for how he celebrated once Sadulaev was hurt, and that the two men have already settled it.
Sadulaev did not ask the public to keep the argument going. He treated the win, the injury, and the celebration as one night that is now closed.
“There’s nothing to criticize here. Every man celebrates his victory in his own way. Maybe Kyle was just overwhelmed with emotions.”
That is Sadulaev’s read of Snyder’s reaction, not a claim that everyone in the building loved it. The criticism started in July, when Snyder pinned him for the RAF light heavyweight title in Tbilisi and then celebrated while Sadulaev could not get off the mat on his own.
The finish came on an ankle pick as Snyder drove through. Replays showed a legal shot. Sadulaev grabbed his left knee, stayed down, and had to be helped away after medical staff reached him.
TASS later reported a partial tear of the lateral ligament in the knee and said he was hospitalized. Sadulaev himself wrote days later that the debut was not what he wanted, but that the damage was not as bad as it first looked.
The optics were the problem for a lot of viewers. Snyder had just beaten “The Russian Tank” for the first time since the 2017 World Championships, and he celebrated a title defense while his rival was being carried off.
Sadulaev is drawing a line under that clip. He said Snyder did not leave it on the mat.
“But afterwards, he called me, texted me. We met, so there are no issues between us. He is a decent man.”
That matters because this rivalry is not a one-off. Snyder and Sadulaev have met with gold on the line across Worlds, the Olympics, and now RAF, and they have spoken about each other as friends when the whistle is not in play.
Snyder went into the Georgia match saying Sadulaev was on a path toward being the greatest wrestler ever. He also said friendship ends the moment they lock up.
RAF Georgia was Sadulaev’s promotional debut and Snyder’s toughest test in the league. Snyder kept the light heavyweight belt by fall after a match that had already swung both ways on the scoreboard.
Sadulaev had taken three of their previous meetings. The pin in Tbilisi evened a series that had belonged to the Russian for years.
The apology, the texts, and the meeting are why Sadulaev is now telling critics to stand down. He is not asking Snyder to un-celebrate the win. He is saying the man called, showed up, and left no debt between them.
Both are booked again this weekend. RAF Moscow is Saturday, Sept. 5, with Khamzat Chimaev against Tyron Woodley in the main event.
Sadulaev meets Zac Braunagel in the co-main event, his first match since the knee injury. Snyder defends the same light heavyweight title against Akhmed Tazhudinov, a rematch of their RAF 07 meeting in March, which Snyder won by decision.
Tazhudinov is the man who tech-falled Snyder at the 2023 World Championships and beat him again at the Paris Olympics. That is a different chapter than Sadulaev, but it is the same belt Snyder kept in Georgia.
Sadulaev’s comments take the heat off a celebration that never sat right with part of the wrestling audience. They also clear the air before the two Olympic champions share another RAF card in Moscow.
If there is a rematch later, it will not be because this one ended in a feud. Sadulaev has already said Snyder is a decent man, and that is the last word he wants on the night in Tbilisi.