"Turkish athletes are developing" - Undefeated Alibeg Rasulov honored to represent Turkey on ONE's global stage

Alibeg Rasulov is proud to be representing his country when he makes the walk for his ONE Championship debut on July 5.

At ONE Fight Night 23, he will look to inspire others back home in his country of Turkey when he steps into the main event.

Rasulov has a massive opportunity on his hands following the reshuffling that took place at the top of this card. He was scheduled to face the former ONE lightweight champion in a huge clash for the future of the division and after the originally scheduled main event fell off the card, they were promoted to headliner status with the interim title on the line.

Turkey has not been known as a prominent player in the martial arts world but Rasulov believes that things are starting to change.

For the country to really put itself on the combat sports map, it needs people like Rasulov to break through and set an example which is exactly what he intends to do.

He spoke about representing Turkey in a recent interview with ONE Championship:

"I am very happy to represent my country, Turkey, at such a high level, in an organization like ONE. There are many athletes in Turkey. Turkish athletes are developing, MMA in Turkey is growing, and martial arts in general are growing in Turkey. The sport is progressing fast."

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It's all down to Alibeg Rasulov now

It can't be underestimated just how big a win this could be for Alibeg Rasulov and for inspiring other Turkish athletes.

Ok Rae Yoon has proven himself to still be the top contender in the lightweight division after losing his belt in a rematch with Christian Lee. This means that whilst it won't be an easy fight by any means, it's a huge opportunity for the new arrival to shake up the entire division if he can leave Lumpinee Stadium on July 5 with the interim gold.

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