Sportskeeda picks: ONE Championship’s best striker of 2023

ONE Championship is home to undoubtedly the best strikers on the planet, but there is one man who stands above the rest of the field. That man is Chingiz Allazov.

The reigning ONE featherweight kickboxing world champion cemented his reputation as the world’s best striker after two high-profile wins in the promotion this year.

Already a multiple-time kickboxing world champion, Allazov pushed his legacy further when he started the year with one of the most iconic knockouts in recent combat sports history.

Allazov first faced Thai megastar Superbon Singha Mawynn at the start of the year, before his short campaign ended with a highly anticipated trilogy fight against old rival Marat Grigorian in August.

These matches, however, weren’t the typical run-of-the-mill world title bouts. But these massively important fights took Allazov from one of the best to the premier kickboxer in the world.

Allazov’s win over Superbon at ONE Fight Night 6 didn’t just give him the ONE featherweight kickboxing world title, it also earned him the no.1 spot in Beyond Kickboxing’s pound-for-pound rankings.

As for his win over Grigorian, the victory cemented Chingiz Allazov as the undisputed best regardless of division.

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A look back at Chingiz Allazov’s legendary run in 2023

Superbon, at the time, was the no.1 pound-for-pound kickboxer on the planet and was at his peak when Allazov challenged him for the gold in January. With their bout taking place in Bangkok, even the crowd inside Impact Arena was against the Azerbaijani-Belarusian star.

Chingiz Allazov, however, showed the world why it was his time and he sent Superbon to the nether realms with utmost kickboxing mastery.

The Thai icon is known as arguably the most devastating kicker in the sport, but Allazov quickly cut the distance with his boxing and had Superbon on the back foot for much of the bout.

After establishing his pace in the first round, Allazov went in for the kill. ‘Chinga’ was relentless with his boxing and sent Superbon down to the canvas twice.

With ONE flyweight MMA world champion Demetrious Johnson commentating on the fight, Chingiz Allazov ended Superbon with a soul-crushing right cross that sent the MMA legend into pure pandemonium.

While his win against Superbon ended in the most spectacular of ways, the one he had against Grigorian was a calculated chess match.

Nevertheless, Allazov’s victory over Grigorian was a decade in the making. The rivals already met twice in 2013, with the first one ending in a no-contest and the second going Grigorian’s way via unanimous decision.

That loss in the Victory promotion was a bitter memory for Allazov, and he made sure that he would have his hand raised in the main event of ONE Fight Night 13.

Allazov started strong and had Grigorian on the defensive for the first three rounds. Grigorian started to fight back in the championship rounds, but Allazov was far too wise to be baited and claimed the unanimous decision win.