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ONE lightweight rising star and Dagestani wrestling powerhouse Saygid Izagakhmaev put his entire division on notice at ONE 163. The much-hyped protege of the great Khabib Nurmagomedov soundly dispatched a legend in Shinya Aoki, and it didn't even look like he broke a sweat. He also won a $50,000 performance bonus for it.
The bout started quite surprisingly as the former ONE lightweight king Aoki, known for his legendary submission skills, chose to keep the fight standing. This turned out to be a huge mistake as Izagakhmaev dropped the Japanese MMA icon with a solid right hand. On the ground, Saygid Izagakhmaev continually mauled Aoki until the referee stopped the bout. It was quite the perfect performance that reminded the world why fighters from Dagestan shouldn't be messed with inside the cage.
In his post-fight media interview, Izagakhmaev spoke about what he plans to do moving forward. As always, his statement was cold and straight to the point:
"Yeah, as I always said previously, I will smash everyone that wants to fight with me. With these two hands, I will fight with whoever wants to fight with me."
Izagahmaev has been on a tear in ONE Championship since his debut earlier this year. He promised to smash everyone and delivered on this promise by going 3-0 in the promotion so far. With another dominant win over an established legend of the sport, Saygid Izagakhmaev might be looking at a world title shot in his next outing.
Watch the full fight here:
Saygid Izagakhmaev's mentor, Khabib Nurmagomedov, calls for him to fight for the world title next
Saygid Izagakhmaev is indeed ready for a world title shot in ONE Championship, at least according to his mentor, Khabib Nurmagomedov. The former UFC lightweight champion posted a congratulatory post on Instagram for his protege Izagakhmaev, along with a bold proclamation at the end:
"So happy for you Brother ✋ My congratulations, the next step fight for the title. @onechampionship @yodchatri"
Just 12 hours before Izagakhmaev fought Aoki, ONE saw the crowning of a new welterweight king at ONE on Prime Video 4. ONE lightweight world champion, Christian Lee, unseated Kiamrian Abbasov to claim ONE's 185-pound throne. With two world titles hoisted on his shoulders, Lee will be looking to defend both. It only seems fitting that his next bout will be against Izagakhmaev for the lightweight strap, as both of them won their last bouts around the same time. The timeline is looking good for the two 170-pound warriors to collide next inside the circle.
