Alibeg Rasulov says focus is on passing weight before dreaming of world title glory vs. Christian Lee: "I don't go too far now"

Alibeg Rasulov knows that in the build up to ONE Fight Night 26, there are two major hurdles that he must prepare to overcome.

Dec. 6 brings the biggest fight of his career to date when he headlines ONE Fight Night 26 at Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand. The undefeated contender will welcome Christian Lee back to the circle, where they will clash for the ONE lightweight MMA world championship.

The fact of the matter is that Rasulov would already be a world champion in ONE if he had successfully made weight and passed his hydration test on his debut.

At ONE Fight Night 23 in July, he defeated Ok Rae Yoon in their interim title fight but due to his weight miss, he wasn't eligible to leave Bangkok with the gold.

Therefore, he knows that this is, in some ways, the fight before the fight. Clearing this will allow him to fully focus on the world title bout, but for the time being, his mind is preoccupied with scales.

In a recent interview with ONE Championship, the challenger was asked about his championship ambitions and what this win could lead to but he was totally focussed on getting the job done:

"Nothing will change, it's just a title I would like to get. At the moment, I'm not interested [in that]. I need to win in my own weight, this is my focus. I don't go too far now."

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Alibeg Rasulov needs to tick this box

It is so important that Alibeg Rasulov makes weight and passes his hydration test before ONE Fight Night 26 gets underway.

When he failed to do so before beating Ok Rae Yoon, it was disappointing but it wasn't the end of the world.

Christian Lee would still return to face him with or without the interim title, but a second miss on Dec. 5 would be a disaster for the undefeated challenger (14-0).

ONE Fight Night 26 will be available to active Amazon Prime Video subscribers in North America for free this Friday.