WRESTLERS from Iran

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Iranian Wrestlers of all time. This list of famous Iranian Wrestlers is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Iranian Wrestlers.

1. Gholamreza Takhti (1930 - 1968)

With an HPI of 53.14, Gholamreza Takhti is the most famous Iranian Wrestler.  His biography has been translated into 25 different languages on wikipedia.

Gholamreza Takhti (Persian: غلامرضا تختی, August 27, 1930 – January 7, 1968) was an Iranian freestyle wrestler and varzesh-e bastani (Persian traditional sport) practitioner. He was a gold medalist at the 1956 Summer Olympics, 1958 Asian Games, 1959 World Championships, and 1961 World Championships, as well as a three-time Pahlevan of Iran. Popularly nicknamed Jahân Pahlevân (جهان پهلوان; "The World Champion") because of his chivalrous behavior and sportsmanship (Javanmardi in Iranian culture), he was the most popular athlete of Iran in the 20th century, although dozens of Iranian athletes have won more international medals than he did. Takhti is still a hero to many Iranians. He is listed in the UWW Hall of Fame.

2. The Iron Sheik (1942 - 2023)

With an HPI of 48.74, The Iron Sheik is the 2nd most famous Iranian Wrestler.  His biography has been translated into 24 different languages.

Hossein Khosrow Ali Vaziri (Persian: حسین خسرو علی وزیری, romanized: Hossein Xosrô 'Ali Vaziri; March 15, 1942 – June 7, 2023), better known by his ring name the Iron Sheik, was an Iranian professional wrestler, amateur wrestler, and actor. He was the first, and so far only, Iranian champion in WWE history, having won the WWF World Heavyweight Championship in 1983. This villainous character peaked during the 1980s WWF wrestling boom and his rivalry with Hulk Hogan turned Hogan into one of the greatest television heroes of the decade. He later formed a tag team with Nikolai Volkoff, which won the WWF Tag Team Championship at the inaugural WrestleMania event. In 2005, he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. A heel throughout the 1980s, Sheik later gained popularity on Kidd Chris, The Howard Stern Show, Opie and Anthony, and the Internet due to his shoot interviews, vulgar language, and apparent intense dislike for some of his fellow professional wrestlers, particularly Hogan and Brian Blair; however, the true nature of his relationship with Hogan has been a subject of debate.

3. Emam-Ali Habibi (1931 - )

With an HPI of 47.75, Emam-Ali Habibi is the 3rd most famous Iranian Wrestler.  His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Emam-Ali Habibi Goudarzi (Persian: امامعلی حبیبی گودرزی, born 27 May 1931) is a retired Iranian freestyle wrestler. He won gold medals at the 1958 Asian Games; 1959, 1961 and 1962 world championships; and 1956 Olympics, placing fourth in 1960. In 2007 he was inducted into the FILA Hall of Fame. Habibi was the fourth and the last son in a large family. He lost his father at the age of 12. His legacy apart from his gold medals is the moves he introduced to wrestling such as the cradle, habibi move, and fireman's carry. In interview with manoto TV he claimed that he only beat wrestlers with Iranian moves and his own invented moves he also said in his time era matches we're 12 minutes long and he disproved of the current way of wrestling with push outs. He was also part of many movies and became an Iranian congressmen when Iran was under the shah. He said he retired in his interview with manoto because he got 5 gold medals and beat anyone that faced him (even though he lost to Doug Blubaugh he beat another wrestler that had beaten him a year later which he saw as the equivalent, in the interview he also claimed he lost to Doug because his body was cramping and he was sick before the match and he couldn't get up half way through so the ref called the match over). Habibi currently has 5 children and many grand children and one great grand child currently living in America. He is one of the most dominant wrestlers in the history of the sport and changed the sport forever inspiring many Iranians into wrestling. Habibi also says that he likes people like Rasoul khadem in the interview and says people like him should lead the nation into the future he is also upset that when he retired no one from the federation sent him a letter to come and coach or teach his moves he says that he is too an Iranian and many other countries have asked him but he would never sell his country or happiness of Iranian people. His nickname Babr mazandaran comes after a fan from sari called him this name in a match in world championships of Tehran as he looked like a Tiger on the mat (Babr in Persian).

4. Matt Ghaffari (1961 - )

With an HPI of 42.48, Matt Ghaffari is the 4th most famous Iranian Wrestler.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Siamak "Matt" Ghaffari ( gə-FAR-ee; Persian: سیامک غفاری, Persian pronunciation: [siːɒːmæk-e ɢæˈffɒːɾiː]; born November 11, 1961, in Tehran, Imperial State of Iran) is an Iranian-born American Greco-Roman wrestler, MMA Fighter and professional wrestler. Ghaffari was a two-time USA Olympic team member, obtaining a silver medal at the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympic Games. Ghaffari finished his career with the most Greco-Roman World and Olympic medals by a United States wrestler. Also, Ghaffari holds 3 American Records the Most World and Olympic total medals, plus he was 4-time World Cup Champion, also 9-time Pan-American Champion. Ghaffari is the 2-time US Olympian and 2-time US Olympic team alternate. 1996 - Hugh O’Brian Youth Foundation Inspiration Award Winner, with Muhammad Ali 1996 – Colorado Sports Hall of Fame’s Amateur Athlete of the Year 2003 - Greater Cleveland Sports Hall of Fame 2006 - Cleveland State Athletics Hall of Fame 2013 - National Wrestling Hall of Fame 2014 - Eastern Wrestling League Hall of Fame In all, Ghaffari won Seven National Championships, four World Cups, two Pan-American Games, seven Pan-American championships (including double titles in 1989-90), and 13 Grand Prix tournament titles. He represented his adopted country six times in World Championships and was twice named the United States Olympic Committee Greco-Roman Wrestler of the Year.

5. Hassan Yazdani (1994 - )

With an HPI of 34.22, Hassan Yazdani is the 5th most famous Iranian Wrestler.  His biography has been translated into 24 different languages.

Hassan Yazdani Charati (Persian: حسن یزدانی چراتی born 26 December 1994) is an Iranian freestyle wrestler. Yazdani is an Olympic and World Champion in freestyle wrestling in two weight categories. He became Olympic champion in the 74kg category at the 2016 Summer Olympics after defeating Russian wrestler Aniuar Geduev in the final. The following year he became World Champion at the 2017 World Wrestling Championships in the Men's freestyle 86 kg category. He won his second world title at the 2019 World Wrestling Championships in Kazakhstan and third at the 2021 World Wrestling Championships in Norway.

6. Saeid Mollaei (1992 - )

With an HPI of 34.05, Saeid Mollaei is the 6th most famous Iranian Wrestler.  His biography has been translated into 24 different languages.

Saeid Mollaei (Persian: سعید ملایی; Mongolian: Саид Моллай; Azerbaijani: Səid Mollayi; born January 5, 1992) is an Iranian half-middleweight judoka. He was born in Tehran to ethnic Azerbaijani parents originally from Khoy. In 2001, at the age of 10, he entered the Persian Gulf Judo School by Dr. Mehrdad Hassanzadeh, a judo instructor. Iranian authorities ordered Mollaei to intentionally lose in the semi-final at the Tokyo 2019 World Championships, so as to avoid a potential match in the finals against Israeli 2019 world champion Sagi Muki. In August 2019, he moved to Europe with a two-year visa from Germany, saying he was afraid to return to Iran after exposing and criticizing its pressure on him to deliberately lose in the World Championships. In December 2019, he became a citizen of Mongolia. He dedicated his 2020 Olympic medal to Mongolia and Mongol People and to Israel. From May 2022 on, Mollaei represents Azerbaijan.

7. Alireza Dabir (1977 - )

With an HPI of 33.13, Alireza Dabir is the 7th most famous Iranian Wrestler.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Alireza Dabir (Persian: علیرضا دبیر, born September 16, 1977) is the President of Islamic Republic of Iran Wrestling Federation from July 2019. He is an Iranian champion freestyle wrestler. Dabir won a gold medal at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, as well as the World Championship in 1998. He was a runner-up in 1999, 2001 and 2002. In the 2004 Athens Olympics, Dabir lost all of his matches by points. He was a member of City Council of Tehran.

8. Hamid Sourian (1985 - )

With an HPI of 31.31, Hamid Sourian is the 8th most famous Iranian Wrestler.  His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Hamid Sourian Reihanpour (Persian: حمید سوریان ریحان‌پور; born 24 August 1985) or Hamid Soryan is a retired Iranian wrestler. Sourian is 2012 Summer Olympic games gold medalist and six-time World Champion. He won both the Junior World Championships and Senior World Championships in 2005. He is also 2007 and 2008 Asian championships gold medalist.

9. Komeil Ghasemi (1988 - )

With an HPI of 28.79, Komeil Ghasemi is the 9th most famous Iranian Wrestler.  His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Komeil Ghasemi (Persian: کمیل قاسمی, born 27 February 1988) is a retired Iranian wrestler who won a gold medal in the men's freestyle 120 kg event at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Ghasemi was awarded his Olympic gold medal after the two wrestlers ahead of him failed drug tests. Ghasemi is the most successful Iranian heavyweight wrestler at the Olympic Games. He also won a silver medal at the 2011 Asian Wrestling Championships in the 120 kg freestyle discipline. He was born in Juybar, in Iran's Mazandaran province but spent his childhood in Sari. He started wrestling seriously after moving back to Juybar. Following his Olympic appearance, Ghasemi won the 120 kg weight class at the 2013 Freestyle World Cup in Tehran, Iran, helping his nation take gold in the tournament. At the 2014 Asian Wrestling Championships he won a gold medal in the 125 kg freestyle tournament, while at that year's World Championships he took silver in the same event. He took silver in the 125 kg freestyle event at the 2015 Asian Wrestling Championships, losing the final to Aiaal Lazarev of Kyrgyzstan, and the 2016 Summer Olympics, behind Taha Akgül of Turkey. Ghasemi retired in 2019 after losing the Iranian trials for the 2019 World Wrestling Championships.

10. Ghasem Rezaei (1985 - )

With an HPI of 28.72, Ghasem Rezaei is the 10th most famous Iranian Wrestler.  His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Ghasem Rezaei (Persian: قاسم رضايى, born 18 August 1985) is an Iranian former Greco-Roman wrestler. He was an Olympic gold and bronze medalist and two-time Asian Champion. His nickname is Tiger of Amol.