“There are talents everywhere” - Aung La N Sang intrigued by what Shamil Abdulaev has to offer

On October 21, Russian phenom Shamil Abdulaev will make his highly anticipated ONE Championship debut. Stepping into the circle for the first time, Abdulaev will face an incredibly tough test as he challenges undefeated two-division world champion Reinier de Ridder for the ONE middleweight world championship.

Fighting out of Vladivostok, Russia, Shamil Abdulaev sports an impressive record of 13-1-0. His lone loss came via a split decision against Salamu Abdurakhmanov back in 2018.

Riding a three-fight win streak, the 32-year-old Russian will face the toughest test of his career against ONE Championship’s Dutch destroyer.

Interestingly, Aung La N Sang recently gave his thoughts on the Russian. N Sang is a ONE Championship icon who is very familiar with ‘The Dutch Knight’, having met him inside the cicrlce on two separate occasions.

‘The Burmese Python’ believes that the world may not know about fighters like Abdulaev, who could offer a formidable challenge to someone as dangerous as De Ridder:

“We have a bunch of great fighters from Dagestan...There are great fighters in all parts of the world. And for us in the western hemisphere to think that only a certain promotion has the best fighters is mind-blowing, in my opinion.”

N Sang continued to talk about the hidden talent that continues to emerge from other parts of the world, saying:

“I'm sure there are guys in Dagestan or Brazil that are so talented and so good and have been doing it for a long time but we just don't know about, for some reason. There are talents everywhere.”

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Aung La N Sang admits he’s not terribly familiar with Shamil Abdulaev

Speaking about the debuting Shamil Abdulaev, Aung La N Sang admitted that he’s not overly familiar with the Russian star:

“I don't know much about him. But I'm just looking at his record. He's beaten a lot of good guys, lost to one guy by a split decision. So I'm not very familiar with him, but I'm sure he's decent.”

Of course, that’s understandable considering Abdulaev is yet to fight outside of his home country. As a result, many fans are likely to overlook Reinier de Ridder’s latest challenger.

That would be a mistake. A multi-time MMA Champion as an amateur, Shamil Abdulaev has a high-level takedown defense that could stymie the Dutchman’s attempts to take things to the ground.

With a 54% percent knockout rate across his 13 victories, Abdulaev may pose the biggest threat to Reinier de Ridder if he can keep things on the feet.