Mammadaliyev entered the final as the more established athlete. Seventh in the world ranking before the event, he took bronze at the 2025 European Championships, silver at the Baku Grand Slam and bronze at the Paris Grand Slam. In 2026, he added another podium finish to his name with bronze at the Dushanbe Grand Slam.
Mammadaliyev put his opponent under pressure from the outset, forcing Vardanian to concede two penalties. With 30 seconds remaining, the Azerbaijani finally found the opening. After provoking a reaction with a tidy ko-uchi-gari, he slipped under his opponent and completed a beautiful seoi-otoshi for an indisputable ippon.
Rashid Mammadaliyev was very happy after the final, "I feel very happy taking the victory in Budapest. We did a great job with my coaches and medical team. Signing autographs for the children is important to me too because when I was a child, I wanted autographs from good judoka, too. I really liked the atmosphere in the arena. Today was my first time having six fights in a competition; every round was a battle. In the final against the Swedish judoka, I knew he had good leg techniques, so I stayed focused on not giving him any openings. Looking ahead to the Baku World Championships, my hope is to train hard and stay injury-free, but tomorrow I have time to celebrate the gold medal."
Messaoud Redouane Dris (ALG) met Shusuke Uchimura (JPN) for bronze, while Ibrahim Demirel (TUR) faced Giovanni Esposito of Italy for the last medal of the category.
Despite his effort, Dris could not prevent Uchimura from scoring a waza-ari with an almost perfectly controlled yoko-tomoe-nage. The Japanese judoka had secured his fourth grand slam medal!
Demirel took the lead against Esposito with a committed ko-soto-gari, only for the Italian to equalise shortly afterwards. The Turkish judoka regained the advantage with a ura-nage counter in a relentless contest fought at a ferocious pace. With less than a minute remaining, Demirel scored again with a low hip movement for a waza-ari. The score was then upgraded to ippon, much to his delight.
Final (-73 kg)
Bronze Medal Fights (-73 kg)
