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ONE Championship newcomer Alibeg Rasulov believes he will be a tough matchup for former ONE lightweight MMA world champion Ok Rae Yoon.
Stepping inside the Circle for the very first time, Rasulov will look to make the biggest of statements when he squares off with the South Korean star inside the legendary Lumpinee Boxing Stadium for ONE Fight Night 23 on Prime Video.
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Though Ok Rae Yoon goes into the fight with a significant experience advantage, particularly when it comes to competing on martial arts' biggest global stage, Rasulov believes Ok is in for a rude awakening when the two go toe-to-toe inside the Mecca of Muay Thai to determine the ONE interim lightweight MMA world champion.l
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"Despite his experience and everything, I think it will be harder for him to fight me," Rasulov told ONE Championship during a recent interview.
Alibeg Rasulov makes his premiere appearance with a picture-perfect 14-0. If he can manage to keep his 'O' intact, he'll immediately thrust himself into the lightweight MMA title picture, setting the stage for a future showdown with two-division king Christian Lee.
Ok Rae Yoon will have to go through Alibeg Rasulov if he wants a trilogy fight with Christian Lee
Of course, Ok Rae Yoon has his own signs set on a meeting with Lee after going 1-1 against 'The Warrior' in back-to-back bouts.
Ok shocked the world when he walked away with the lightweight MMA belt at ONE: Revolution in 2021, securing a highly controversial unanimous decision victory over Lee to take his first 26 pounds of gold home to South Korea.
A year later, Ok handed the belt right back to Lee, suffering a brutal second-round knockout in their rematch at ONE 160 inside Singapore Indoor Stadium.
Since then, Ok has bounced back with a solid win over Lowen Tynanes at ONE Fight Night 10 in Denver. If he can make it two in a row while simultaneously handing Alibeg Rasulov his first career loss, it would be hard to deny him a trilogy fight with 'The Warrior.'
ONE Championship fans in the United States and Canada can watch ONE Fight Night 23 live and for free via Amazon Prime Video in U.S. primetime on Friday, July 5.
