Karimula Magomedovich Barkalaev (born May 28, 1982) is a Russian former professional mixed martial artist (MMA), submission wrestler and Sanda fighter. He is the first and only Russian national to have won the ADCC Submission Fighting World Championship. According to Sport Express, on American forums, he was called most mysterious fighter in the history of MMA. On the MMA ranking system portal Fight Matrix, Barkalaev reached a peak ranking of No. 3 Light Heavyweight in 1999. Background Barkalaev was born on January 23, 1973, in the village of Tivi, Qvareli, Georgian SSR. He is of Avar descent. After sixth grade, he moved to Kaspiysk, Dagestan where he attended a sports boarding school for Judo and graduated in 1990. He trained with his cousin, Dzhabrail Barkalaev who later became a silver medalist at the 1996 Russian Judo Championship. In 1993, Barkalaev started training in Sanda. He was winner of the 1995 and 1996 Russian Wushu Championships. He was also a silver medalist in the 1996 European Wushu Championship in Rome. In 1997, Barkalaev met Volk Han and would train under him to participate in mixed martial arts. Mixed martial arts career Barkalaev spent his early career fighting under the International Absolute Fighting Council (IAFC) promotion in Russia. On May 23, 1998, he fought against Gilbert Yvel. Yvel was disqualified after Barkalaev's coach Volk Han noted the referee Yvel had illegally bitten his fighter On February 8, 2001, Barkalaev competed in the Shidokan Jitsu – Warriors 1 Tournament in Kuwait. He faced Dave Menne in the finals and lost by unanimous decision after referee, John McCarthy deducted a point for grabbing the cage. After the fight, he complained how the event was unfair since the referee, as well as all three judges were from the U.S. Since that tournament, Barkalaev has not participated in any MMA bouts. He has stated there was a lack of financial incentive and interest in continuing. Professional grappling career In 1998, Barkalaev competed in the inaugural tournament of the ADCC World Championship. He defeated Carlos Lopez, Toby Imada and Igor Yakimov to reach the finals of the −88 kg division. In the finals he lost to Rodrigo Gracie on points after a 30-minute bout. In 1999, Barkalaev returned to compete in the 1999 ADCC World Championship. He defeated Renato Verissimo, Amaury Bitetti and Egan Inoue all by points. In the finals he faced Belarusian wrestler, Aleksandr Savko