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Saygid Izagakhmaev just captured the most important win of his career, and his mentor Khabib Nurmagomedov called on ONE Championship to give his protege the world title shot next.
Izagakhmaev went into full attack mode and knocked out Japanese legend Shinya Aoki in the first round of their fight at ONE 163 this Saturday at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
It was such a dominant display that Nurmagomedov immediately hit up ONE Championship to give Izagakhmaev a shot at ONE lightweight world champion Christian Lee. Taking to Instagram, 'The Eagle' wrote:
"So happy for you Brother ✋ My congratulations, the next step fight for the title. @onechampionship @yodchatri"
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The matchup between Izagakhmaev, the No.4-ranked lightweight contender, and former ONE lightweight world champion Aoki was billed as a grappling chess match, but the complete opposite happened.
Although Saygid Izagakhmaev and Shinya Aoki have backgrounds in sambo and Brazilian jiu-jitsu, respectively, the two fighters never attempted to take the match to the ground.
Instead, both fighters traded leather from the onset but it was the Russian who hit harder.
Izagakhmaev landed a huge right hand that quickly sat Aoki down. He then rained down heavy punishment from top position forcing the referee to stop the match 1:26 into the first round.
The win pushed Izagakhmaev to a perfect 3-0 in ONE Championship.
Saygid Izagakhmaev is ready for Christian Lee
Saygid Izagakhmaev was so utterly dominant in his match against Shinya Aoki that he’s already looking forward to a world title showdown against Christian Lee.
His beatdown of Aoki earned Izagakhmaev a crisp $50,000 bonus from ONE CEO Chatri Sityodtong, and it was during his post-fight interview that he called out Lee:
“I saw that Christian won the fight today. I know he is a good opponent for me so that’s my next one. I’m looking forward to it Chatri [Sityodtong]. Make it happen!”
Lee also fought in the same stadium just hours prior, when he beat Kiamrian Abbasov for the ONE welterweight world title in the main event of ONE on Prime Video 4.
