A professional MMA competitor since 2008, Sarnavskiy has mostly competed in his native Russia, where he is an M-1 Global veteran and former lightweight division in the Bellator Fighting Championships.
The first discipline was kickboxing, which the young man mastered for 2 years at the Lokomotiv club and achieved success in regional competitions.
Hobbies grew into a professional approach at the age of 18, when Sarnavsky decided to try his hand at mixed martial arts.
[2] After compiling a record of 8–0 (3 submission, 4 KO/TKOs), Sarnavskiy joined M-1 Global to enter their selection tournament.
[3] Sarnavskiy then faced Karen Grigoryan in the next round, defeating him by split decision, advancing him to the final.
Following the win over Grigoryan, Sherdog ranked him as the number one undefeated European prospect in the sport.
[4] Around the same time, Sarnavskiy was scheduled to face Artiom Damkovsky at the M-1 Eastern European Finals.
Appearing at M-1 Challenge XXI: Guram vs. Garner, Sarnavskiy faced Victor Kuku.
[6] Sarnavskiy made his U.S. MMA debut in Norfolk, Virginia on March 25, 2011, on the televised portion of M-1 Challenge: Damkovsky vs. Figueroa.
He faced Brazilian Kickboxer Thiago Michel in the quarter-finals on January 31, 2013, at Bellator 87[10] and won via submission in the second round.
After knocking Davis down with a punch, he took his back and eventually won via a rear naked choke submission.
[12] An injury forced Campos out of the fight, Sarnavskiy eventually faced promotional newcomer Dakota Cochrane.
Bouncing back from the loss, Sarnavskiy knocked out Herdeson Batista on November 10, 2018, at ACB 90.