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WATCH: UWW's Top 10 Most-Viewed Bouts of '21

By United World Wrestling Press

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (January 4) -- With the Olympic Games and World Championships held in the same year for the first time, wrestling fans got a chance to watch the stars of the sport not once but twice in 2021. As fans continue to watch and enjoy these battles, here's the list of the top-10 most-viewed bouts of 2021 from the United World Wrestling's YouTube channel.

10 -- European Olympic Qualifiers 65 kg: Haji ALIYEV (AZE) vs Vagzen TEVANYAN (ARM)

 

9 -- European Championships GR 130 kg: Iakobi KAJAIA (GEO) vs Riza KAYAALP (TUR)

 

8 -- Tokyo Olympics FS 97kg: Abdulrashid SADULAEV (ROC) vs Kyle SNYDER (USA)

 

7 -- World Championships WW 62kg: Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ) vs Kayla MIRACLE (USA)

 

6 -- Asian Olympic Qualifiers GR 77kg: Akzhol MAKHMUDOV (KGZ) vs Shohei YABIKU (JPN)

 

5 -- Asian Olympic Qualifiers WW 50kg: Seema BISLA (IND) vs Yui SUSAKI (JPN)

 

4 -- World Championships WW 68kg: Rin MIYAJI (JPN) vs Meerim ZHUMANAZAROV (KGZ)

 

3 -- Asian Olympic Qualifiers FS 65kg: Amirmohammad YAZDANI (IRI) vs Ernazar AKMATALIEV (KGZ)

 

2 -- World Championships FS 86kg: David TAYLOR (USA) vs Hasan YAZDANI (IRI)

 

1 -- World Championships FS 97kg: Abdulrashid SADULAEV (RWF) vs Kyle SNYDER (USA)

2026 World Championships

Astana Announced as Replacement Host for 2026 World Championships

By United World Wrestling Press

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (May 22) -- Astana, Kazakhstan will host the 2026 World Championships from October 24 to November 1.

United World Wrestling Bureau met on Friday and after careful consideration of the current geopolitical situation, particularly the ongoing uncertainty and impact on international travel, it decided to change the host for the 2026 World Championships.

Manama, Bahrain was scheduled to host the World Championships as it was awarded the tournament in Zagreb last year. UWW and Bahrain released a joint statement on Friday, announcing the postponement of the same.

After successful site visits and inspections, the Kazakhstan Wrestling Federation was chosen as a replacement host and Barys Arena was selected as the venue.

World Championships 2026

The announcement marks the return of the World Championships to Astana, a city which successfully hosted the 2019 World Championships. Close to 1000 wrestlers participated in 2019 edition, making it one of the most attended tournaments.

As seen in 2019, full attendance is expected at the the Barys Arena for the nine-day event.

UWW remains committed to assisting National Federations and the schedule for the 2026 World Championships in Astana will be communicated soon. For details of events, visit uww.org/events.