Sasha Palatnikov

Sasha Palatnikov is an up and coming mixed martial artist from Russia. He currently competes in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Featherweight Division and has been competing professionally since 2016.

Born on November 6, 1984 in Riga, Latvia, Sasha was raised by his single mother who had emigrated to Riga with him as a child. Growing up Sasha was always athletically inclined and he often found himself playing sports such as football or wrestling in the schoolyard with his friends. It wasn’t until he was 15 years old when he discovered kickboxing that he realized his true passion lay within combat sports.

At 18 years of age, Sasha began training full-time at a local gym and quickly made a name for himself within the Russian MMA scene due to his incredible athleticism and desire to learn about all aspects of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA). He soon signed a contract with WFCA – one of Russia’s leading MMA organizations – where he competed for four years before making the decision to move over to the United States in order to further pursue his dream of becoming an international MMA star.

Since moving stateside, Palatnikov has gone on an absolute tear through both regional promotion Cage Fury Fighting Championships (CFFC) as well as Bellator’s Welterweight division where many consider him “The Future” of American MMA thanks largely due to his impressive 9-2 record which includes two back-to-back victories via submission late 2020 against UFC veterans Joe Condon & Andrew Whitney respectively. His success earned him an entry into UFC’s featherweight division where Sasha is looking forward to taking full advantage of this opportunity while continuing towards achieving greatness inside its octagon cage!