Vyacheslav Vasilevsky is a young, versatile Russian prospect who’s shown plenty of upside early in his fighting career. A Sambo practitioner by trade, Vasilevsky is a former Champion of M-1 Selection’s Western Europe Light Heavyweight Tournament and currently trains under coach Alexei Chugreeva at Sambo-70. Despite being an undersized light heavyweight, Vasilevsky is a definite talent who holds notable wins over Shamil Tinagadjiev, Alihan Magomedov, Sergey Guzev, and UFC veteran Xavier Foupa- Pokam

An aggressive striker, Vasilevsky likes to press the action and go after his opposition. Despite his aggressive tendencies, Vasilevsky fights with good composure and shows sound defensive instincts. He’s a mentally tough fighter who doesn’t wilt if hit, instead continuing to press the action and trusting the quality of his standup. Making up for his lack of size at light heavyweight with good speed and technical aptitude, Vasilevsky possesses excellent reactions and good footwork. Additionally he displays nice head movement, which combined with his instincts and footwork provides him with the foundation to manoeuvre well and effectively avoid opposition strikes. Offensively, Vasilevsky is a quick striker who’s blessed with good hand speed and a crisp jab. He throws a quick left hook, a nice right cross, and shows good counter striking skills including an impressive counter straight right. Vasilevsky will need to improve his clinch striking but his standup is developing very nicely early in his career.

Coming from a Sambo background, Vasilevsky is a well-versed grappler. He displays very good balance and a good sprawl, showing the ability to reverse takedown attempts to end up on top. Crafty in the clinch, Vasilevsky utilizes an assortment of nifty trips from in close to gain top position. He employs a persistent, if not overwhelming ground and pound game while showing solid technical skills on the mat. Vasilevsky has a sound understanding of ground positioning and makes a conscious effort to at least maintain, if not improve his position on the ground. His patience is excellent both standing and on the ground where he will wait for openings instead of rushing or trying to force the issue. A slick guard passer, Vasilevsky’s overall ground awareness and submission skills are certainly solid early in his career. Fighting off his back, Vasilevsky is comfortable opening up his guard and working, although he will need to learn to control his opponent better and continue refining his guard game.