McKenna takes on Russia’s Ibragimov in featured PWL match on Sunday

U.S. National Team member and reigning U.S. Open champion Joey McKenna is scheduled to face European champion Ibragim Ibragimov of Russia this Sunday in a featured PWL men’s freestyle exhibition match.

It’s the second matchup between the two international talents at 65 kg. Ibragimov previously defeated McKenna, 6-4, at the 2022 Ivan Yarygin Grand Prix, which is one of the toughest international tournaments held each year.  

In 2025, McKenna won the U.S. Open and finished as runner-up to eventual World medalist Real Woods at Final X. He also earned a pair of international medals in the past year—silvers at the Pan American Championships and Zagreb Open. He is a two-time age-group World medalist and two-time Senior Pan American champion. Ibragimov is a two-time U23 World champion and was fifth at the 2025 Worlds in Zagreb, Croatia.

Also on the docket for this PWL event is 2023 Senior World champion Rizabek Aitmukhan of Kazakhstan taking on 2024 Olympic bronze medalist Magomedkhan Magomedov of Azerbaijan.

The U.S. has had a presence in the last three PWL events. Olympic champion and four-time World champion Kyle Snyder won two matches at PWL 8 in Almaty, Kazakhstan. At PWL 9, Russia emerged with a 6-4 dual meet win over the U.S. in Budapest, Hungary. Additionally, three Americans—Jay Aiello, Nick Lee and Brayton Lee—competed on the loaded PWL 10 card last month.

For those interested in watching live, the event will stream live online at pwlworld.tv at 1 a.m. U.S. Eastern Time on December 14.