| Date | 9 August 2016 |
|---|---|
| Status | Olympic |
| Location | Arena Carioca 2, Parque Olímpico da Barra, Barra da Tijuca, Rio de Janeiro |
| Participants | 33 from 33 countries |
The medals in the men’s 81 kg category were not destined for the four leading seeded judoka. Of these, only the reigning World Champion Takanori Nagase of Japan won a medal when he defeated the top-seeded former World Champion from Georgia, Avtandil Ch’rik’ishvili to win bronze. The other two athletes from the uppermost part of the ranking list, Canada’s Antoine Valois-Fortier and Bulgaria’s Ivaylo Ivanov lost their quarter-finals against the eventual finalists, Khasan Khalmurzayev and Travis Stevens, respectively. The Russia versus United States final was decided by Ippon (full point) with Uchi-mata (Inner thigh throw) after 2:42 min in favor of Khalmurzayev. He claimed the second gold medal in the 2016 judo events for the controversial Russian team. For the second bronze medal, Sergiu Toma of the United Arab Emirates scored an Ippon with Sumi-gaeshi in 2:16 min. The 29-year-old Moldava-born Toma competed in the 2008 and 2012 Olympics for his home-country, before moving to the UAE. His bronze was only the second ever medal for the Emirates.
| Date | 9 August 2016 — 10:00 |
|---|---|
| Format | Winners advance to round two. |
| Date | 9 August 2016 |
|---|---|
| Format | Winners advance to round three. |
| Date | 9 August 2016 |
|---|---|
| Format | Winners advance to quarter-finals. |
| Match | Date/Time | Location | Competitor | NOC | Result | Competitor | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 09 Aug | Mat 1 | Avtandil Chrikishvili | GEO | Penalty | Juan Turcios | ESA | |
| Match #2 | 09 Aug | Mat 1 | Matteo Marconcini | ITA | Ippon | Valeriu Duminică | MDA | |
| Match #3 | 09 Aug | Mat 1 | Ivaylo Ivanov | BUL | Waza-ari | Lee Seung-Su | KOR | |
| Match #4 | 09 Aug | Mat 1 | Travis Stevens | USA | Ippon | Shakhzodbek Sabirov | UZB | |
| Match #5 | 09 Aug | Mat 2 | Takanori Nagase | JPN | Ippon | Paul Kibikai | GAB | |
| Match #6 | 09 Aug | Mat 2 | Sergiu Toma | UAE | Ippon | Victor Penalber | BRA | |
| Match #7 | 09 Aug | Mat 2 | Antoine Valois-Fortier | CAN | Waza-ari | Emmanuel Lucenti | ARG | |
| Match #8 | 09 Aug | Mat 2 | Khasan Khalmurzayev | RUS | Waza-ari | Mohamed Abdelaal | EGY |
| Date | 9 August 2016 |
|---|---|
| Format | Winners advance to semi-finals. Losers advance to repêchage for bronze medal tournament. |
| Match | Date/Time | Location | Competitor | NOC | Result | Competitor | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 09 Aug | Mat 1 | Avtandil Chrikishvili | GEO | Waza-ari | Matteo Marconcini | ITA | |
| Match #2 | 09 Aug | Mat 1 | Travis Stevens | USA | Ippon | Ivaylo Ivanov | BUL | |
| Match #3 | 09 Aug | Mat 2 | Sergiu Toma | UAE | Yuko | Takanori Nagase | JPN | |
| Match #4 | 09 Aug | Mat 2 | Khasan Khalmurzayev | RUS | Waza-ari | Antoine Valois-Fortier | CAN |
| Date | 9 August 2016 |
|---|---|
| Format | Winners advance to bronze medal matches. |
| Match | Date/Time | Location | Competitor | NOC | Result | Competitor | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 09 Aug | Mat 1 | Matteo Marconcini | ITA | Ippon | Ivaylo Ivanov | BUL | |
| Match #2 | 09 Aug | Mat 1 | Takanori Nagase | JPN | Ippon | Antoine Valois-Fortier | CAN |
| Date | 9 August 2016 |
|---|---|
| Format | Winners advance to gold medal final. Losers advance to bronze medal matches. |
| Match | Date/Time | Location | Competitor | NOC | Result | Competitor | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 09 Aug | Mat 1 | Travis Stevens | USA | Ippon | Avtandil Chrikishvili | GEO | |
| Match #2 | 09 Aug | Mat 1 | Khasan Khalmurzayev | RUS | Ippon | Sergiu Toma | UAE |
| Date | 9 August 2016 |
|---|
| Match | Date/Time | Location | Competitor | NOC | Result | Competitor | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #3/5 | 09 Aug | Mat 1 | Sergiu Toma | UAE | Ippon | Matteo Marconcini | ITA | |
| Match #3/5 | 09 Aug | Mat 1 | Takanori Nagase | JPN | Yuko | Avtandil Chrikishvili | GEO | |
| Match #1/2 | 09 Aug | Mat 1 | Khasan Khalmurzayev | RUS | Ippon | Travis Stevens | USA |