“I will smash everyone” - Saygid Izagakhmaev doesn’t care who he fights in ONE; says he will win

ONE lightweight boogeyman and Dagestani MMA sensation Saygid Izagakhmaev sent a serious message to the entire division at ONE 163. The famed protege of Khabib Nurmagomedov handily dispatched a legend in Shinya Aoki in round one of their main card bout last weekend.

After dropping the former ONE lightweight king with a solid right hand, Saygid Izagakhmaev proceeded to maul him on the ground until the referee saw enough and had to stop the bout. It was a near-perfect performance and once again reminded everyone why the Dagestani style of MMA might be the most dangerous style there is today.

In his post-fight media scrum, Izagakhmaev spoke about his plans for the ONE lightweight division. His statement was as cold as the brutal Russian winter:

"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."

Saygid Izagakhmaev is now 3-0 in the promotion since debuting earlier this year. In his wins over James Nakashima, Zhang Lipeng and now Shinya Aoki, the Russian grappler was barely touched as he utterly dominated nearly every second of each bout. With another dominant win, Izagakhmaev is inching closer to a world title shot. Something tells us that he'll get it next year.

Watch his full interview here:

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Saygid Izagakhmaev's mentor, Khabib Nurmagomedov, calls for a bout between his protege and ONE double-champ, Christian Lee

Speaking of world title shots, Saygid Izagakhmaev's mentor, former UFC lightweight champion and MMA legend Khabib Nurmagomedov, recently called for a bout between his protege and ONE lightweight and welterweight king, Christian Lee.

Lee achieved double-champ status the night before ONE 163, at ONE on Prime Video 4, by stopping Kiamrian Abbasov to claim the ONE welterweight world title. Lee and Izagakhmaev seem bound to meet inside the circle, given how dominant they've been this year.

Nurmagomedov echoed this sentiment in an Instagram video he posted congratulating his student and friend:

"So happy for you Brother ✋ My congratulations, the next step fight for the title. @onechampionship @yodchatri"

Khabib has been hyping his teammate ever since making his debut inside the circle in January. So far, Izagakhmaev has delivered in spades, and it doesn't look like he'll slow down anytime soon. It will be interesting to see how the Dagestani wrestler fares against Lee's all-round attack. We'll just have to wait to find out.