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Alibeg Rasulov promised to keep his unbeaten record intact ahead of his promotional bow, and he went on to do just that in the main event of ONE Fight Night 23 this past Friday, July 5.
Having arrived with plenty of hype, the 31-year-old Turkish juggernaut had a lot to live up to inside the Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.
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Though his weigh-in day mishap meant that only his dance partner, Ok Rae Yoon, was eligible to win the ONE interim lightweight MMA world title on offer, the Dagestani-born fighter made the most of his chance to impress.
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At the same time, he potentially denied Ok a rubber match against divisional king Christian Lee and placed himself in the world title picture instead.
Reflecting on his victory, Alibeg Rasulov had this to say at the official ONE Fight Night 23 post-event press conference:
"First of all, I want to say thank you. It's my first time in ONE Championship, and it was such a good fight for the first time. I went five rounds. I want to say thank you to ONE Championship."
Watch the full interview here:
Alibeg Rasulov's all-around strength sees him cruise past Ok Rae Yoon
While the 33-year-old South Korean had his moments, Alibeg Rasulov simply refused to give the former lightweight kingpin room to breathe throughout their 25-minute duel.
The Hyperion Fighters only had one thing in mind – shutting down Ok's attacks wherever they came from.
Whether it was his close-range boxing, work in the clinch, or grappling prowess, the Turk dazzled in all areas to frustrate the Team Mad athlete inside the Mecca of Muay Thai.
The disciplined performance extended the ground game specialist's record to a pristine 14-0. Meanwhile, Ok's loss was the second he suffered in his last three outings, the first coming against Lee in their rematch at ONE: Revolution in September 2021.
North American fans with an active subscription can catch the entire ONE Fight Night 23 card via replay on Amazon Prime Video.
