Esmaeili crowned Most Dominant Greco-Roman Wrestler of 2025
Iran’s Saeid Esmaeili was named the Most Dominant Greco-Roman Wrestler of the Year by United World Wrestling (UWW).
The 22-year-old sensation fended off competition from fellow Iranian world champions Mohammad-Hadi Saravi, and Gholamreza Farrokhi, as well as Armenia’s Malkhas Amoyan and Uzbekistan’s Aytjan Khalmakhanov to claim the prestigious prize.
A gold medalist at last year’s Paris Olympics, the 67kg wrestler earned the recognition following an emphatic 12-month run in which he posted an 11-0 record across three major tournaments, claiming seven technical-fall victories in the process.
Eight of his wins came without conceding a single point, including two 9–0 triumphs over Khalmakhanov — the 63kg gold medalist at September’s World Championships — and Serbia’s former world champion Sebastian Nadj.
Ranked world number one in his weight class, Esmaeili began the international season with a gold-winning campaign at March’s Asian Championships in Amman. He then marked his World Championships debut in style by edging Azerbaijan’s Hasrat Jafarov 2-1 in the final.
The pair met again for gold at the Islamic Solidarity Games in Riyadh two months later, where Esmaeili came within two seconds of suffering only the second defeat of his senior international career — and his first since June 2024 — before producing a trademark four-point move to defeat Jafarov 8-3 in a thrilling showdown.
Esmaeili’s honor marked the third award for Iranian Greco-Roman wrestling at the season-ending UWW Awards.
Farrokhi claimed the Breakout Performer of the Year prize after racking up a perfect 17-0 record, including 11 technical-superiority wins, across his international appearances.
He made his senior international breakthrough at February’s Ranking Series event in Zagreb, where he secured three commanding victories before defeating 2024 world silver medalist Erik Szilvássy of Hungary, 6-2, in the 82kg final.
The Iranian picked up where he left off upon returning to the Croatian capital in September, accumulating 37 points across four bouts while conceding just one en route to the world title.
Moving up to the 87kg category for the U23 World Championships in October, Farrokhi was in a league of his own in Novi Sad, Serbia, sweeping aside all five opponents by technical superiority — including Ukraine’s Ivan Chmyr in the final — to claim the title.
He capped off the season with yet another gold-winning campaign at the Islamic Solidarity Games, defeating Kazakhstan’s Islam Yevloyev 6-0 in the final.
Meanwhile, Iran was named the Top Greco-Roman Team of 2025.
A prolific year saw the country complete a clean sweep of four world team titles across all age groups, with Iranian wrestlers medaling in 29 of the 40 possible weight categories, collecting 10 golds, six silvers, and 13 bronzes.
The pinnacle of Iran’s international season came at September’s Senior World Championships in Zagreb, where a remarkable haul of four golds, along with two silvers and two bronzes, led the nation to only its second team title — and first since 2014 — in the history of the competition.