Saygid Izagakhmaev wants to finish Shinya Aoki and win $50,000 at ONE 163

Saygid Izagakhmaev has big plans for his ONE 163 showdown with Asian MMA legend Shinya Aoki.

The two lightweight contenders will clash on November 19 with Izagakhmaev looking to pick up the biggest win of his mixed martial arts career. Already securing two big wins in his ONE Championship tenure against James Nakashima and Zhang Lipeng, the No.4-ranked Russian will get himself within reach of a world title fight with a victory over Aoki.

Saygid Izagakhmaev doesn’t just want to win. He wants to make a statement against the fan-favorite, delivering a knockout worth $50,000. In an interview with ONE Championship, Izagakhmaev said:

“I would like to finish this fight striking. I think it’s going to end this way. [My goal is] to win this fight ahead of time and shout from the ring: [ONE CEO] Chatri, give me my US$50,000!”

Trying to earn his way back to the ONE lightweight world championship he lost to Christian Lee in 2019, Shinya Aoki will look to get back into the win column and avoid suffering back-to-back losses inside the circle.

Should Izagakhmaev spoil Aoki’s plans, he could very well be the next man in line for Christian Lee’s crown.

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Saygid Izagakhmaev plans to bring pressure against Shinya Aoki

As a protege of Russian MMA legend Khabib Nurmagomedov, Saygid Izagakhmaev knows a little something about how to pressure his opponents inside the cage. That is exactly what he plans to do when he meets Shinya Aoki in their highly-anticipated showdown next week:

“My plan is aggression. If he aggressively attacks, I will engage him just as aggressively. [The rest of the plan], I will show only in the fight."

Should his plan of attack prevail, Saygid Izagakhmaev already has his next target in sight. ONE lightweight world champion, Christian Lee.

“I’m destined to be the lightweight champion, it’s only a matter of time. I think I will become the ONE world champion in half a year. I’m the new force in the lightweight division, and nobody will stop me.”

Until the next contender emerges, Christian Lee will seek two-division glory when he takes on reigning welterweight champion Kiamrian Abbasov in the ONE on Prime Video 4 main event on November 18. The card will be available on Amazon's streaming platform live and free for all its subscribers.