Kiamrian Abbasov has the entire city of Novorossiysk behind him

Kiamrian Abbasov has brought glory to a small town in Russia, and the people of his hometown let him know that they are behind him every step of the way.

‘Brazen’ shared in a recent interview that he was given a Letter of Appreciation from the Mayor of Novorossiysk for his high achievements in sports and promoting sports in the Russian City.

“I just received an official thank you note from the mayor of Novorossiysk. It was lovely to see that authorities appreciated my hard work - I represent this small city with a population of 300 k on the international sports arena.”

If you told a teenage Kiamrian Abbasov that he would one day be a world champion in MMA with at least one whole city cheering him on, he probably would have laughed it off. His parents divorced when he was just three years old, leaving his mother to care for him and his sister.

As a teenager, he started working odd jobs to support his struggling mother. His uncle, Yakub Aliev, cultivated Abbasov’s interest in martial arts by training him in wrestling when he was around 14 years old. Later, he progressed to MMA and never looked back.

He later moved to his wife’s home country of Russia to find more sports opportunities, which clearly paid off. The Kyrgyz athlete has now found a home in Novorossiysk that appreciates all the hard work he’s putting in for his passion.

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Kiamrian Abbasov feels comfortable at middleweight

Kiamrian Abbasov is the king of ONE Championship’s welterweight division, which has a weight limit of 83.9 kilograms. In challenging Reinier de Ridder for the ONE middleweight world title, the Kyrgyzstani athlete will compete at the 93-kilogram weight limit.

Reinier de Ridder, who also holds the ONE light heavyweight world title, is listed to compete in the 102.1-kilogram limit on the promotion’s website.

Despite the change in weight and their obvious size difference, Abbasov says that he’s not doing anything special apart from conditioning as he prepares for war against the Dutchman.

“To tell you the truth, I feel much more comfortable at this new weight, it is better than fighting at 84, but don’t get me wrong - if I have to go back down to 84 kg to defend my belt, I’d do it in a heartbeat.”

Abbasov will look to be the promotion’s newest two-division world champion at ONE: Full Circle on Friday, February 25.