Family Business: A Look At Sibling Prospects in MMA

Askar Askar, UFC Vegas 18
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – FEBRUARY 05: Askar Askar poses on the scale during the UFC weigh-in at UFC APEX on February 05, 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)

Afghanistan-born Abdul Azim Badakhshi (12-3) and Abdul Karim Badakhshi (5-0) are quietly building a strong resume. Abdul Azim is an Afghan freestyle wrestling champion that has done really well in MMA. He’s fought for ACB and Brave CF and on a two-fight win streak. His brother Abdul Karim has less experience but has had some great success as well. He was last seen putting surging prospect Aydemir Kazbekov to sleep with a triangle. These two have put Afghanistan on the map.

Russian brothers Vladimir Kirakosyan (5-0) and Gevorg Kirakosyan (6-1) are buzzsaw prospects. Both Vladimir and Gevorg are a Master of Sports in Sambo. Kirakosyan is also a judo coach and undefeated in MMA. Both these guys have strong ground games and have been dominating as of late.

Not a pair of siblings but a trio of siblings in the Askar brothers. The more well-known brother is Askar Askar (12-2). Askar is an LFA veteran and was signed briefly to the UFC last year. Since losing his UFC opportunity before ever fighting, he’s gone 1-1 winning his last fight. Brother Asef (2-0-1) has yet to face defeat in his career. He went 6-0 as an amateur and won two amateur titles. Their younger brother Motaz (2-0) is 23. Motaz was also an amateur champion and went 7-0 before turning pro. All talented Palestine-born fighters that have a promising future.

In the UFC today there are are a few sibling pairs. Those include the Shevchenko sisters, Diaz Brothers, Daukaus brothers, Cosce brothers, Teymur brothers, Azaitar brothers, and the Burns brothers. You can’t really label them prospects in many cases, of course — outside of some of the newer faces, they’re already established in the promotion. Here are the siblings of the fighters in the UFC that could one day be fighting under the same promotion however.

Farid Basharat is the brother of recent UFC signee Javid Basharat. Basharat was signed to the UFC from the Contender Series and Farid was in his corner. Farid is 7-0 and has the same potential as his brother, which carries with it high expectations. He’s a real slick striker with a diverse ground game. The styles of Basharat mirror each other. Farid fights this March and it could be the ticket to the UFC. If not, there’s a good chance of Farid taking the same road as Javid in fighting on the Contender Series next season.

Ryan Burgos is the younger brother of the #14 ranked featherweight Shane Burgos. Ryan is a bantamweight and 3-0 fighting as an amateur. There’s hardly any footage of his MMA career out there but he’s made a good account of himself coming up the amateur ranks. Ryan fights again this March.

Not many people know that Johnny Walker has a brother but he does and his name is Valter Ignacio. Walker is a monster standing at 6’6″ fighting at 205. Ignacio also stands at 6’6″ and fights a weight class higher. Although from Brazil he trains and lives out of Moscow, Russia. Walker likes to strike and Ignacio likes to wrestle and smash.