Tuscany, Italy, November 13, 2014. Daghestani athletes won 8 gold medals at the combined world combat sports championships that finished recently in the Italian city of Tuscany, Head of Daghestan Self Defense Combat Federation, coach Magomed Shirvanov told RIA "Dagestan".

"These large-scale events are held annually. This year’s championships attracted a record 10,000 athletes from 113 countries. There were almost all combat sports - karate, kickboxing, Thai boxing, taekwondo, jujitsu, Wushu Sanda, mixed martial arts, and various types of wrestling. 8 Daghestani athletes performed for the Russian team, and they all represented mixed martial arts. As a coach, I am very pleased that all Daghestani athletes won medals – 5 golds: Ramazan Ramazanov (65 kg), Gadjimurad Gassanov (71 kg) Djamal Kudaev (85 kg), Eldar Atayev (91 kg),and  Arthur Aliskerov (91 kg), and 3 silvers," Shirvanov commented.

"I would single out Arthur Aliskerov and Eldar Atayeva – the heavy weight winners in MMA and submission-wrestling. Italian promoters even made them both a really inviting offer to further perform in prestigious international tournaments as professionals.

"Another gem of the team is Djamal Kudaev, who heads the Makhachkala Self Defense Combat Federation. He's an athlete to set an example for everyone. He is a member of the Youth Parliament at the Makhachkala city assembly, a dentist, an assistant chair at Daghestan State Medical Academy. He had studied in Croatia and England, and he has a number of academic degrees. Djamal had been too busy to participate in sports events for a long time, but within a short period of time he managed to prepare for the world championships and to earn a medal," -Shirvanov added.