ONE Fight Night 23: Turkish dynamo Alibeg Rasulov praises Ok Rae Yoon's commendable grappling defense

Alibeg Rasulov has been impressed by what he has seen from his upcoming opponent at ONE Fight Night 23.

The Turkish debutant is set to try and enter ONE Championship at the very top of the lightweight MMA division.

On July 5, he gets the opportunity to compete for the interim ONE lightweight world championship against a former champion of this weight class.

Rasulov has the potential to shake up the entire weight class if he is able to secure the win inside Lumpinee Stadium but it will be no easy task.

As he discovered when doing his homework for this fight, Ok Rae Yoon is a serious threat to his undefeated record given his skillset and experience.

It doesn't take an expert analyst to identify that the former champion is going to want to keep this fight standing so that he can use his striking skills to get the win.

After watching some of his opponent's previous fights, Rasulov gave credit to the former champ in an interview with ONE Championship:

"I watched my opponent's fights. He prefers stand-up [striking] and doesn't let himself be taken down. He's got good lungs."

A win for Alibeg Rasulov would be huge

Alibeg Rasulov getting his hand raised at ONE Fight Night 23 would make him just the second man to have beaten Ok Rae Yoon under the ONE banner.

His only previous loss came in his highly anticipated rematch with Christian Lee and there is no shame in losing to the current champion.

If Rasulov is able to take out the top contender in his debut, he could be set for huge things during his time in the promotion.

It's a big test to face when looking to announce yourself but with high risk comes high reward on this occasion for the Turkish competitor.

ONE Fight Night 23 will air live and free in US prime time for North American viewers with an active Prime Video subscription.