Russian slugger Tagir Khalilov admits pushing himself beyond his limit “took a toll” on his performance against Kongthoranee

Russian slugger Tagir Khalilov believes that overextending himself in training did not help his cause in his most recent fight and that moving forward he has to reassess the way he approaches his matches.

'Samingpri' lost to Thai Kongthoranee Sor Sommai by unanimous decision in their catchweight (139.25 lbs) Muay Thai clash at ONE 169: Malykhin vs. Reug Reug on Nov. 8 at the Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.

Khalilov never got his game fully soaring the way he intended to, leaving him outgunned and dominated by Kongthoranee in their scheduled three-rounder. It was partly a result, he surmised, of pushing himself too much in his preparation backfiring.

He shared this in an interview with ONE Championship following his loss, saying:

"I need to reassess my [mental] state because everything was going well in training. I trained constantly and didn't allow myself to rest. Maybe that took a toll on my performance as well."

The loss at ONE 169 was the second straight for Tagor Khalilov, who was previously in the middle of turning things around for him in ONE Championship after a slow start.

For his part, Kongthoranee bounced back after losing in his previous match in June to double ONE world champion Superlek Kiatmoo9.

The full replay of ONE 169 is available on demand to Prime Video subscribers in the United States and Canada.

---

Tagir Khalilov forges ahead after tough loss at ONE 169

Tagir Khalilov is picking up the pieces following a tough loss at ONE 169: Malykhin vs Reug Reug on Nov. 8 in Thailand and forging ahead in his campaign in ONE Championship.

He shared this in the same interview with ONE Championship, highlighting that as tough the defeat was, there was no sense in sulking too much over it and that he needs to put in the work to be in the position where he wants to be.

The 31-year-old Russian fighter said:

"Of course, we'll keep moving forward, and I'll review some things in my training. I think it's mostly a mental thing -- a psychological adjustment is needed."

The loss was the second straight for Tagir Khalilov, marking it a second time he hit a two-game slide in ONE Championship. He lost his first two matches in the promotion before going 3-1 in his next four fights.