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Saygid Izagakhmaev detailed the game plan against Shinya Aoki after beating the Japanese legend at ONE Championship 163.
Izagakhmaev continued to put the lightweight division on notice after advancing his promotional record to 3-0. The Russian made quick work of Aoki and ended the fight in under 90 seconds. During the post-fight media interviews, the 28-year-old had this to say about his game plan that led to success:
“The plan was to work with him in the striking. But in the first few minutes, when I punched him, and I saw he was shaking a little bit, I was thinking ‘Hey, should I submit him?’ And I was like, ‘No, let me just finish him like this.’”
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Izagakhmaev was favored to beat Aoki, but taking him out in the first round was the statement he needed. The ONE lightweight division is being infused with new blood out to challenge for the world title, and the Russian is the only ranked contender coming off a win against another fighter in the top five of the division.
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ONE lightweight and now welterweight world champion Christian Lee had previously mentioned fighting Izagakhmaev if he beat Aoki. The matchup should be pretty easy to make, considering their last fights were in the same week.
Watch Saygid Izagakhmaev's ONE 163 post-fight interview below:
Saygid Izagakhmaev is willing to fight anyone next
Saygid Izagakhmaev was born in Russia and possesses the lifestyle that revolves around fighting. Now that the Russian is slowly taking over the lightweight division, he has no plans on slowing down. During the ONE 163 post-fight media interview, Izagakhmaev had this to say about what’s next:
“Yeah, as I always said previously, I will smash everyone that wants to fight with me. With these two hands, I will fight with whoever wants to fight with me.”
The late father of Khabib Nurmagomedov, Abdulmanap, worked endlessly to develop the next generation of Russian fighters before passing away in 2020. Through his dedication, MMA legend Khabib, Bellator champion Usman Nurmagomedov, and UFC champion Islam Makhachev all evolved into world-class fighters. Izagakhmaev is ONE Championship’s representative for the Russian takeover in MMA.
Watch Saygid Izagakhmaev take out Shinya Aoki at ONE 163 below:
