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Welcome to today's edition of the daily Sportskeeda ONE Championship News Roundup, where we present the promotion's most important stories.
Today, we talk about Saygid Izagakhmaev’s potential opportunity for the ONE lightweight world title, Christian Lee answering Islam Makhachev’s challenge, and ONE Championship CEO Chatri Sityodtong’s prediction for the next ONE welterweight world title challenger.
#3. “He can’t jump over me” - Saygid Izagakhmaev says Christian Lee can’t ignore him and fight Islam Makhachev
Things are heating up between two-division world champion Christian Lee and Saygid Izagakhmaev.
The two are set for a possible world title fight in the foreseeable future and it seems Izagakhmaev is getting bolder by the minute.
Izagakhmaev inched closer to his world title challenge against Lee following his dominant win over Japanese legend Shinya Aoki at ONE 163 this past weekend. The Russian mauler was already fired up after his victory, but his desire to fight Lee is nearing its crescendo.
Lee, who holds the ONE lightweight and welterweight world championships, said in an interview that he can beat Izagakhmaev’s close friend Islam Makhachev, the UFC lightweight world champion, in a fight.
Izagakhmaev did not take those words lightly and warned Lee that he is ready for their potential clash. During the ONE 163 post-fight scrum, Izagakhmaev said:
“I mean what can I say? He [Lee] can say whatever he wants. He can say he wants whoever. But everything is up to the decision of the organization. He can’t jump over me and go somewhere else. He needs to face me, so let him want it.”
Izagakhmaev and Makhachev are two of the best fighters from Russia and both have trained under the tutelage of their mentor Khabib Nurmagomedov.
#2. “We'll see who's the real best lightweight” - Christian Lee responds to Islam Makhachev’s call-out
The lightweight division couldn’t be any more exciting than it is right now. Christian Lee and Islam Makhachev hold lightweight gold in ONE Championship and the UFC, respectively, and the two generational superstars have been going at it this past week.
Lee headlined ONE on Prime Video 4 and collected the ONE welterweight world title after his victory over Kiamrian Abbasov. Makhachev, meanwhile, was in attendance during ONE 163 where he cornered teammate and good friend Saygid Izagakhmaev in his win over Shinya Aoki.
While Lee and Makhachev didn’t interact publicly, the two did exchange pleasantries through digital means.
Makhachev threw the opening jab when he called out Lee for a match between the lightweight world champions of ONE Championship and the UFC.
Lee, who now owns two world titles, gladly accepted Makhachev’s call-out during the ONE on Prime Video 4 post-fight interview:
“I saw a recent video of a fellow competitor over in the UFC, Islam Makhachev calling me out. He's inviting me over to the UFC to fight him for his lightweight title. I would love to make that fight happen. Let's see it, let's do a cross-promotion event. The lightweight world champion from UFC gets the lightweight world champion from ONE Championship. We'll see who's the real best lightweight in the world.”
#1. ONE Championship CEO Chatri Sityodtong says winner of Roberto Soldic vs. Murad Ramazanov potentially up next for Christian Lee
Christian Lee is about to become an incredibly busy man in his ONE Championship career.
The ONE lightweight and welterweight world champion now has the responsibility of defending two world titles, but ONE Championship CEO Chatri Sityodtong seems to have the matches laid out.
Sityodtong said that the next high-profile welterweight match would have major implications for Lee’s welterweight rule.
Undefeated fighter Murad Ramazanov will take on the debuting Roberto Soldic at ONE on Prime Video 5 on December 2 in Manila. Sityodtong said in the ONE on Prime Video 4 post-event press conference that the winner of that matchup could challenge Lee for the ONE welterweight world title:
“I think you know, we're going to see some fireworks come December 2, Amazon Prime with Roberto Soldic versus Murad Ramazanov… so it'd be very, very fascinating. I think the winner of that, depending on how the fight shapes out, could be fighting for the title against Christian.”
Lee has already said in previous interviews that he won’t jump between weight classes in every fight, and thus hinted at the idea that he’d stay at welterweight for a while after his victory against Kiamrian Abbasov at ONE on Prime Video 4.
