Chatri Sityodtong excited for ground war between Saygid Izagakhmaev and Shinya Aoki

ONE CEO and Chairman Chatri Sityodtong revealed one of his favorite matchups heading into ONE 163 this November.

ONE Championship officially announced a lightweight MMA bout between two of the world’s best grappling stylists, Shinya Aoki vs Saygid Izagakhmaev.

When the Thai founder first signed Izagakhmaev last year, Eagles FC promoter and UFC Hall-of-Famer Khabib Nurmagomedov promised him that his pupil was the real deal. The Russian prospect did not disappoint and is now 2-0 under ONE Championship.

Deserving of a spot in the rankings, Chatri would like to see Izagakhmaev get tested by the "Grand Master of Flying Submissions" himself, Shinya Aoki. Taking questions at the ONE 163 press conference, the CEO explained why Aoki vs Saygid was the fight to make:

“Why we did this match-up and why we think this is so interesting – Saygid with Khabib’s style, you know, the whole Eagle’s MMA style is one of takedown and control to ground and pound. Shinya’s style is submissions. So he takes down and finishes via submission and this is what makes [this] interesting. I believe whoever gets top position first will likely win the fight.”

Shinya Aoki, the all-time great, needs no introduction. Racking up an incredible record of 47 victories overall, with 30 of those by submission, the Japanese legend is considered to be one of the best submission specialists in the world.

Despite coming off two losses this year, there are only a select few who can match him both in technique and style.

Watch the ONE 163 press-conference below:

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Chatri Sityodtong explains how Saygid Izagakhmaev got signed to ONE

It only took one phone call and the name Khabib Nurmagomedov to persuade Chatri Sityodtong into giving Saygid Izagakhmaev a spot on the ONE Championship roster.

Izagakhmaev’s impressive record of 19-2 would have been enough for any promotion to say yes but Chatri was intrigued to hear the great Khabib Nurmagomedov put his neck on the line for his pupil.

The ONE Championship founder explained to Sportskeeda his “spur-of-the-moment decision” of signing Izagakhmaev:

“I had a phone call with Khabib and Saygid’s manager Ali and Khabib said that Saygid is the best welterweight on the team, on Eagles MMA and that says a lot, I mean you know Eagles MMA has some real killers. It’s arguably one of the best MMA teams in the world and so it was a huge endorsement for Khabib to jump on the phone with Saygid and basically say, ‘Chatri this guy is our very best welterweight.’