Khabib Nurmagomedov reacts to Saygid Izagakhmaev’s victory at ONE: Heavy Hitters - “Fight for the title is not far” 

Saygid Izagakhmaev made a successful ONE Championship debut against James Nakashima at ONE: Heavy Hitters this past weekend. Khabib Nurmagomedov, who was set to corner Izagakhmaev, believes his compatriot isn't far from a championship opportunity.

Izagakhmaev put on a dominant performance in his first appearance inside the ONE Circle. The Dagestani won the fight with a head-and-arm triangle choke at 2:17 of the second round.

After the fight, Nurmagomedov offered a congratulatory message to his countryman on Instagram. In the caption, 'The Eagle' wrote:

“It was a dominant performance and great debut in one of the best promotions in the world @onechampionship also a bonus in the first fight 👌”

The UFC legend also added:

“Fight for the title is not far.”

Fans were eager to catch a glimpse of Nurmagomedov, who is a close friend and teammate of Izagakhmaev.

Unfortunately, the former UFC lightweight champion was unable to make it to the arena. He was forced to watch from his hotel room after testing positive for COVID-19.

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Saygid Izagakhmaev arrives on the global stage

Saygid Izagakhmaev is relatively unknown to MMA fans, unlike Khabib Nurmagomedov. After his dominant win, however, Izagakhmaev shared that prefers to be recognized for his merits rather than his relationships.

During his post-fight interview with Mitch Chilson, the Dagestani said:

“Whether he’s [Khabib Nurmagomedov] here or not, I’m still the one who’s fighting in the ring, so it’s still my own victory.”

Izagakhmaev, in an interview with SCMP MMA, added that Nurmagomedov’s absence didn’t affect his mindset at all. He said:

“I understand [what] Khabib’s feeling right now. He came all the way from his place, and being in Singapore, he couldn’t even enter the cage and help me as a cornerman. But you know, we are fighting one-to-one, right, not two-to-one or something like that. So it was ok, mentally, and in terms of preparing [for the fight], it’s just that he was sad that he couldn’t corner me.”

Watch his interview with SCMP MMA below:

Izagakhmaev will be looking to climb the rankings in his next appearance in ONE Championship. He called out Eddie Alvarez and Shinya Aoki soon after his win over James Nakashima.