Mansur Malachiev breaks down his strong outing against former champ Yosuke Saruta: "My hand was raised"

Mansur Malachiev is looking to build on the current momentum that he has behind him by earning back-to-back wins for the first time in ONE Championship.

After debuting with a win in the promotion, the Russian contender came up short in his biggest fight to date at ONE Fight Night 15.

Current strawweight MMA world champion Joshua Pacio proved to be too much for him that time around, but he was able to bounce back.

Defeating Yosuke Saruta put him right back in the mix after emerging victorious at ONE Fight Night 19. Malachiev was able to utilize his entire skill set in order to secure the win over a former world champion.

Ahead of his return at ONE Fight Night 25, he spoke in an interview with ONE Championship about how this fight played out:

"I was sure that if scrambling on the ground got hard, I would still be able to do well in the stand-up, and that's how it turned out! Of course, I wanted to win by knockout, but I only got a knockdown. But I won by unanimous decision and most importantly - my hand was raised at the end of the fight."

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Mansur Malachiev looks to continue pushing forward

After getting his hand raised against Yosuke Saruta, Mansur Malachiev is in search of his biggest win to date on Oct. 4.

The Russian is set to cross paths with South Africa's Bokang Masunyane at Lumpinee Stadium this weekend.

Either man could put themself into the title picture with a win here making this a high stakes clash between them.

Both have got big wins with their only losses coming to the two titleholders in the division right now.

In a clash of two of strawweight's best grapplers, only one man can progress up the division's ladder.

ONE Fight Night 25 will air live in US primetime free of charge for Prime Video subscribers in North America.