ONE Fight Night 8 results: Oh Ho Taek vs. Akbar Abdullaev

Akbar Abdullaev had a fearsome reputation of being a devastating first-round finisher, and the young star more than lived up to the hype.

The Kyrgyzstani battering ram needed just 44 seconds to prove that he’s an absolute force in the featherweight division, knocking out Oh Ho Taek in his ONE Championship debut at ONE Fight Night 8 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

Abdullaev displayed tremendous fluidity in his movement when he slipped under Oh’s uppercut before landing a crisp right uppercut on the South Korean’s chin.

That one quick shot proved to be the starting point of Abdullaev’s vicious ground attack, and he laid out Oh Ho Taek with a flurry of punches that forced the referee to stop the contest even before the one-minute mark.

Akbar Abdullaev, who had seven first-round finishes before entering ONE Championship, bumped his perfect record to 9-0.

His win had such an impact that ONE Championship CEO Chatri Sityodtong awarded ‘Bakal’ with a cool $50,000 bonus.

In his post-fight interview with Mitch Chilson, Abdullaev admitted that he was ready to pull every trick in his bag, but one shot was all he needed to score the dominant win. He also announced that he’s ready to climb to featherweight world title contention:

“Yes, I’m in a hurry for that belt over there. I was planning to use all my weapons, but I just finished him with my uppercut. Big boss thank you very much! It’s just the beginning for me, everything is about to come.”

Though it’s still incredibly early to say, Abdullaev could eventually make his way into the top five of the featherweight rankings.