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Artem Belakh knows that his body has gone through utter torture in his quest to become the best possible version of himself. After going through multiple surgeries and lengthy recovery periods, the Russian brawler believes he’s now in the best shape in his career.
Ready to bring that newfound health into the ring, Belakh will try to capture a pivotal win this Friday when he takes on Mongolian star Enkh-Orgil Baatarkhuu at ONE Fight Night 18 at the historic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium.
Belakh, in an interview with ONE Championship, said he put his health at the top of his priorities in his preparation for Baatarkhuu.
Following several surgeries, the 27-year-old expressed he feels he can go full speed ahead in Bangkok during his third ONE Championship outing.
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Artem Belakh said:
“Yes, I've had several surgeries - two on my left arm and hand, one on my nose. I got my health in order and I'm ready to conquer the world of MMA and make more and more people fall in love with this sport by giving them good shows.”
Belakh is the No.4 contender in the bantamweight MMA division. A win over Baatarkhuu could lead him to a shot at ONE bantamweight MMA world champion Fabricio Andrade.
ONE Fight Night 18 is ONE Championship’s first Amazon card of the year and is available live and for free to all Prime Video subscribers in North America.
Artem Belakh vows to correct his mistakes from loss to Kwon Won Il
Artem Belakh had an impressive ONE Championship debut in October 2022, when he beat Brazil’s Leandro Issa via unanimous decision at ONE 162. His next bout, however, didn’t end the way he hoped it would.
Kwon Won Il, currently ranked No.3 in the bantamweight MMA division, knocked Belakh out in the second round of their match at ONE Fight Night 11.
Determined to correct his mistakes, Belakh said in the same interview that he fixed his gameplan while recovering from his injuries:
“Yes, of course, I recognized my past mistakes and worked hard on fixing them,” Belakh said. “I've been making adjustments and changes to my training while going through the process of rehabilitation. I've changed teams - now I represent the 'Derzhava' team under Sergey Khandozhko.”
