2023 World Championship Rankings

125 kg - Taha Akgul

Taha Akgul is the defending world champion after defeating both Amir Zare and Lkhagvagerel Munkhtur at last year's world championships. On top of that, Akgul won another European title this Spring after defeating Geno Petriashvili. With those performances, Akgul will hold the #1 seed at worlds and is the favorite to win his 4th world title.

Mason Parris takes over the 125 kg spot after Gable Steveson's recent withdrawal from the World Championships. Although Parris has never competed at senior worlds, he won a junior world championships in 2019 where he pinned Iran's Amir Zare in the finals. Parris also had success at the Budapest Ranking Series in July where he brought home gold highlighted by a win over two-time world medalist Zhwei Deng (CHN). Parris looks like he has the ability to challenge the established heavyweights in this field but is still an unknown for Team USA.