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Saygid Izagakhmaev’s huge win at ONE 163 has pushed him another step closer to his coveted world title challenge.
The Russian juggernaut defeated former ONE lightweight world champion and current fifth-ranked contender, Shinya Aoki, to take the third spot in the latest update of ONE Championship’s lightweight rankings.
In the process, the inactive Halil Amir moves to the fourth spot. The Turkish fighter claimed his position in the rankings after defeating erstwhile third-ranked Timofey Nastyukhin at ONE on Prime Video 2.
With the win, only No.2-ranked Dagi Arslanaliev and former division king Ok Rae Yoon stand in the way of Izagakhmaev at the top of the division’s rankings.
Lee, the ONE lightweight and welterweight world champion, said prior to this past weekend’s events that Saygid Izagakhmaev could be next in line to challenge him for the lightweight strap if he beats Shinya Aoki. Lee told SCMP MMA:
“I think the match between Saygid and Shinya is going to be an important fight. I think if Saygid is able to win that match, I think he’s next in line for the world title.”
Now that the condition has been fulfilled, the only question now is whether the pair will indeed lock horns next year, or if the Nurmagomedov MMA product still needs to take on other contenders in the division to further legitimize his claim for a world title shot.
Saygid Izagakhmaev reminds Christian Lee that he’s coming
Following his massive win at ONE On Prime Video 5 to become a two-division world champion, Christian Lee addressed a potential super fight with UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev, saying he would be interested in a match to prove who is the best lightweight in the world.
A few hours later, Saygid Izagakhmaev scored a huge win of his own, defeating Shinya Aoki at ONE 163. During the post-fight interviews, he took the chance to remind Lee that before he thinks about potential super fights, he has to worry about protecting his own kingdom first:
“I think Islam [Makhachev] has [Alexander] Volkanovski and Christian [Lee] has me. He needs to focus on me and there’s no reason for him to think about fighting Islam.”
The Russian behemoth has run through the competition so far in his ONE Championship stint, winning all three of his fights in dominant fashion. With his latest win against a former world champion in Shinya Aoki, Saygid Izagakhmaev has proven that he deserves to be in the world title conversation.
Now that he has claimed the No.3 spot in the rankings, his case is only getting stronger.
