[6] In 1995, he began to practice Wushu Sanda at the 'Five Directions of the World', a school famous for combining general and martial arts education.

Muslim is an alumnus of the famous Dagestani sports-dedicated boarding school Five Directions of the World.

[7] Salikhov faced Liu Hailong who held the title "King of Sanda" at the 2003 World Wushu Championships in Macau.

[9] In February 2006, he participated in the first international "King of Sanda" tournament in Chongqing and became the first non-Chinese to win the title.

By early 2013, Salikhov signed with M-1 Global, preparing with Phuket Top Team for his mixed martial arts debut.

Salikhov notched his biggest win to date when he earned a victory over UFC and Bellator vet Melvin Guillard by spinning hook kick.

[18] In his debut for the promotion, Salikhov faced Alex Garcia on November 25, 2017, at UFC Fight Night 122.

[21] However, Alhassan was pulled from the card, citing injury, and he was replaced by promotional newcomer Ricky Rainey.

[23] On July 20, 2018, Salikhov was notified of a potential doping violation by USADA from an out-of-competition sample collected on June 7, 2018.

[30] Salikhov was expected to face Niko Price on April 11, 2020, at UFC Fight Night: Overeem vs.

[32] Salikhov faced Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos on July 11, 2020, at UFC 251.

[34] Salikhov was scheduled to face Cláudio Silva on October 18, 2020 at UFC Fight Night 180.

[35] However, on October 4, it was announced that Salikhov pulled out due to undisclosed reasons and was replaced by James Krause.