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Alibeg Rasulov is by no means a passive fighter inside the cage, and that aggressive nature was borne out of the environment moment he grew up in.
The undefeated mauler is a product of Dagestan's unforgiving wrestling culture, and he carried that identity to build a perfect 14-0 professional record.
In an interview with ONE Championship, Rasulov said it's the culture that he grew up in helped build the mythos behind Dagestan's most feared fighters.
Rasulov pointed out that schoolchildren are already trained to wrestle against each other to build that stifling attitude between the ropes or inside the cage.
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"I think everybody knows that very good wrestlers have come from Dagestan. We start at a very early age. We got used to competing, fighting, it’s in our blood. In general, we love to wrestle," said Alibeg Rasulov.
Although he now represents Turkey, Rasulov maintains the Dagestani identity that he fully unleashed when he made his ONE Championship debut at ONE Fight Night 23 against Ok Rae Yoon.
Rasulov stood firm against the former ONE lightweight MMA world champion and captured the unanimous decision win for, at that time, the biggest win of his career.
The 32-year-old is now set to challenge Christian Lee for the ONE lightweight MMA world title in the main event of ONE Fight Night 26 on Friday, US primetime, at the historic Lumpinee Stadium.
Rasulov's world title challenge against Lee, and the entire ONE Fight Night 26 card are available live and free to all Prime Video subscribers in the United States and Canada.
Alibeg Rasulov banking on his crippling wrestling game to subdue Christian Lee
Alibeg Rasulov is confident the years he spent training in Dagestan will be key in stopping the impending storm Christian Lee will bring to ONE Fight Night 26.
In an interview with ONE Championship, Rasulov said Lee has yet to face an opponent like him between the ropes and that his wrestling will be the foundation of his offense in the Bangkok headliner:
"I think that Christian Lee has not yet met an opponent like me. My wrestling is better than his. I will force my wrestling on him. He has had a long delay, and I think he will get tired more than I. I just have to force my game on him."
