Fans react as David Taylor loses World Wrestling Championship match against Abdulrashid Sadulaev (Images: All via Getty)

"David Taylor is washed"; "Painful to wake up to this" - Fans react as American wrestler loses 7-0 to Abdulrashid Sadulaev at 2024 World Championships

Modified Oct 30, 2024 16:39 GMT

Fans were left surprised as 2020 Olympic champion David Taylor lost his World Wrestling Championship fight against Russia's Abdulrashid Sadulaev. Taylor came out of retirement to compete one last time before bidding a final farewell to wrestling.

Taylor, the Tokyo Olympics gold medalist and three-time world champion, announced this year in May that he was retiring from the sport after taking on the role of head coach for the Oklahoma State Cowboys Wrestling. However, he later reversed his decision and declared his name for the 2024 World Wrestling Championships.

However, the 33-year-old had a forgettable outing in Tirana, Albania. He failed to score any points against his Russian opponent Abdulrashid Sadulaev in the opening round of the freestyle 92 kg event on Wednesday, October 30, ultimately losing the match with a score of 7-0. Nonetheless, Taylor still stands a chance to redeem himself if Sadulaev advances to the final as the American icon would then enter the repechage for a shot at the bronze medal.

Fans were left disheartened by Taylor's loss and expressed their disappointment under an Instagram post featuring FloWrestling's coverage of the match.

"Abdulrashid Sadulaev with a statement win over David Taylor, 7-0. Does this solidify Sadulaev as the GOAT?"

A fan suggested that Taylor was not at the top of his game and wrote:

"Taylor is washed."

Another fan expressed their faith in the American star and commented:

"Woke up for this match. Taylor couldn’t get past those hips. Beautiful go behinds. I wanna see a rematch already."

One fan highlighted that Taylor's transition from competing to coaching may have hindered his performance; the fan stated:

"I'm not surprised. I didn't think Taylor had enough time to prep. With the recent transition from competitor to coach, I felt he needed more time. Not sure if it would've yielded different results. ARS trains all year round, plus he's that good."

Here are some more reactions from the fans.

"DT aka Magic no worries you will get back on track. Congrats to Sadulaev."

"Did anyone expect a different result?"

"He is one of the most talented wrestlers in history."

"He's just the one guy I hadn't got to" - David Taylor expressed his desire to wrestle against Abdulrashid Sadulaev

David Taylor at the Wrestling Senior World Championships Belgrade 2023 (Image via Getty)

In 2020, David Taylor called out Abdulrashid Sadulaev for a match-up on his social media handle. During an interview with Olympics.com ahead of the contest, Taylor expressed that Sadulaev was the one wrestler he had always wanted to face.

"I've been in a lot of big matches in my life and wrestled all the legends in our sport. And he's just the one guy I hadn't got to. So I really want to make it happen. We’ve been considered two of two of the best in the world for a while but there’s been that weight class separation and other things. But now we could get to wrestle," David Taylor said (via Olympics.com).

While Taylor is one of the most accomplished wrestlers, Sadulaev also holds five World Championship titles and two Olympic gold medals across different weight classes.