“It was a challenge to keep working hard” - Murad Ramazanov believed the payoff will always be worth his hardships

Murad Ramazanov always knew that being a professional mixed martial artist wasn’t the easiest of career paths. Nevertheless, he blasted through the hurdles and he’s now on the verge of one of the most important fights of his life.

The Russian star will take on the debuting Roberto Soldic at ONE on Prime Video 5 and a victory could push him to a potential world title match against ONE welterweight world champion Christian Lee.

ONE on Prime Video 5 will take place this Friday, December 2, at the Mall of Asia Arena. Existing Prime Video subscribers in North America can watch the card live and for free.

In an interview with ONE Championship, Ramazanov said that there were times when even the people closest to him stopped believing in his dreams.

Ramazanov, though, picked himself up and continued working for what he felt was his right to be in the spotlight:

“Having to persevere, to keep training day by day, to pick myself up when I was injured, and even my closest person stopped believing in me was the hardest. It was a challenge to keep working hard and hope that one day I would be noticed and signed by a good promotion.”

That belief carried Ramazanov to unprecedented heights and he’s now holding on to a perfect 11-0 record in his career. He’s also on a 3-0 run in ONE Championship.

The 27-year-old is coming off the biggest win of his career when he secured a unanimous decision victory over former ONE welterweight world champion Zebaztian Kadestam at ONE Winter Warriors II in December 2021.

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Murad Ramazanov recalls training with Eddie Alvarez and Frankie Edgar

While Murad Ramazanov pushed through despite his struggles, there were times when he found renewed confidence in himself.

In the same interview with ONE Championship, Ramazanov recalled a time when he got to train with MMA greats Eddie Alvarez and Frankie Edgar.

Though their interaction was brief, Murad Ramazanov said that what he learned from the two pioneers vastly helped him in his MMA journey:

“My cousin Timur Valiev paved the way for me and other fighters from Dagestan. I got to know them, too. We trained together and learned from each other. I shared with them some techniques from Greco-Roman wrestling adapted for MMA, and they showed me some of their tricks. Training with these legends gave me a lot of experience and knowledge.”