BESIK KUDUKHOV: 1986-2013
Russian star remembered as one of best of all-time
By Craig Sesker Henry Cejudo remembers the match
like it happened yesterday. In a highly anticipated bout between 18-year-old wrestling phenoms, Cejudo stepped onto the mat to face Russia’s Besik Kudukhov in the semifinals of the Junior World Championships on July 5, 2005 in Vilnius, Lithuania. The slick and talented Cejudo stormed
out to an early lead, but the hard-charg- ing Kudukhov kept his composure and fought back late in the match to earn the win. The Russian went on to win a gold medal while Cejudo placed fifth. It looked like the beginning of a memo-
rable rivalry between budding freestyle superstars at 55 kg/121 lbs. The two young stars met again, four
months later in the New York Athletic Club International semifinals, and this time Cejudo emerged with a win. As his hand was raised following the win, Cejudo, a high school senior, bounced on his toes and chanted “U-S-A, U-S-A!” while pumping his right fist. “It ended up being the only time I ever
beat him,” said Cejudo, who was six months younger than his Russian rival. “Kudukhov was a stud – he was extreme- ly tough. I lost three more times to him, all in very close matches, in Russia. He was the gold standard for a lot of years.” Less than three years later, Kudukhov entered the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China as the clear-cut favorite to win the gold medal. He had won a silver medal at the 2006 Senior World Championships before winning his first World title in 2007. Cejudo, meanwhile, won a Junior
World silver medal in 2006 but lost in the first round of the 2007 Senior Worlds. He wasn’t being picked to win a medal, but Cejudo was still confident he could win Olympic gold. “My dream was to beat Kudukhov in
the finals of the Olympics,” Cejudo said. “That’s what drove me and pushed me and motivated me when I was training for Beijing. I knew I would have to defeat him for the gold. When I saw the bracket, I
26 USA Wrestler
2008 Olympic Games medalists in freestyle wrestling at 55 kg/121 lbs. (from left): Silver medalist Tomohiro Matsunaga of Japan, Gold medalist Henry Cejudo of the United States, Bronze medalist Radoslav Velikov of Bulgaria and Bronze medalist Besik Kudukhov of Russia. John Sachs photo.
envisioned having that dream matchup with him in the finals.” Cejudo came out strong in Beijing and
just moments after he landed a spot in the finals, Kudukhov stepped onto the mat to face Japan’s Tomohiro Matsunaga in the other semifinal at 55 kilograms. Matsunaga scored a stunning upset
win, headlocking and pinning the heavily favored Russian. Cejudo went on to beat Matsunaga in the gold-medal finals. “That was a huge upset – nobody really
saw that coming with the Japanese guy,” Cejudo said. “I wanted to beat Kudukhov, and that’s what I trained for, but Matsunaga obviously did me a pretty big favor.” While Cejudo stepped away from wrestling after 2008, Kudukhov kept com- peting and went on to become one of the best wrestlers of all-time. He moved up a
weight class and went on to win three more World titles from 2009-11. Kudukhov reached the Olympic finals
in 2012, but lost in the finals and finished with a silver medal. Sadly, Kudukhov won’t receive a
chance to earn that elusive Olympic gold medal. He was killed in an automobile accident on Dec. 29 in Russia. He was just 27 years old. “It was crazy to hear that news – I was
just very shocked and very sad,” Cejudo said. “I really admired Kudukhov as a wrestler and a person. His style was a mesh of Jordan Burroughs and Terry Brands. He went out there to score points and he wrestled an exciting style. He went out there to dominate. I never saw him backpedal. He wasn’t looking to hold
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