“Saygid is the best fighter in his weight class” - What Khabib Nurmagomedov told Chatri Sityodtong

ONE Championship CEO Chatri Sityodtong knows talent when he sees it, and he knew that he found a gem in lightweight star Saygid Izagakhmaev. It also helped that the legendary Khabib Nurmagomedov vouched for his pupil.

Izagakhmaev, while a dominant force, will face his toughest test yet when he takes on Japanese icon Shinya Aoki at ONE 163: Akimoto vs. Petchtanong on November 19 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

During the event’s press conference in Tokyo, which streamed through Japanese media outfit Abema’s YouTube channel, Sityodtong revealed how much trust Nurmagomedov put in Izagakhmaev.

Nurmagomedov, who retired as the UFC lightweight world champion, is now a promoter and heads the Eagles MMA team. While Izagakhmaev is part of Nurmagomedov's Eagles MMA, his home gym is at Academy MMA.

Chatri Sityodtong said:

“When we first signed Saygid, Khabib gave me a call and told me that Saygid is the best fighter in his weight class in Eagles MMA, which is Khabib’s team. I’m very, very excited for this matchup. It’s very interesting -- grappler versus grappler, the best of the best, with definitely a submission finish.”

Izagakhmaev has an impressive professional record of 21-2 and is 2-0 in his ONE Championship run. The no.4 lightweight contender had an outstanding promotional debut when he submitted former ONE welterweight world title contender James Nakashima in the second round of their bout at ONE: Heavy Hitters this past January.

He then scored a unanimous decision win over Zhang Lipeng in his second fight in the organization at ONE 161: Petchmorakot vs. Tawanchai this past September.

Aoki, though, is one of Japan’s greatest-ever fighters. The no.5 lightweight contender had two reigns with the ONE lightweight world championship and has won titles in DREAM and Shooto.

Catch the entire press conference below:

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Chatri Sityodtong sees interesting matchup between Aung La N Sang and Yushin Okami

Chatri Sityodtong and his team swung big in their promotion of ONE 163 and one of the major announcements the ONE Championship CEO made was the match between legends Aung La N Sang and Yushin Okami.

In the same press conference, Sityodtong said that the fight between Aung La and Okami was one of the easiest his team made. Both fighters wanted the match and all ONE Championship had to do was to make it official.

Chatri Sityodtong said that the match between the two generational stars will be an interesting one and that a knockout should be expected:

“When we decided to put Yushin Okami vs. Aung La N Sang, actually it was very easy because both called each other out, I think this makes for a very interesting fight. I believe it’s gonna end in KO. I believe that Yushin has the better wrestling.”