ONE Championship: Rasulov wants Lee fight after gruelling win over Ok Rae-yoon
- Alibeg Rasulov claims unanimous decision win at ONE Fight Night 23 and turns his attention to lightweight title holder Christian Lee
Alibeg Rasulov said he was “ready for Christian Lee” after earning a gruelling decision win over Ok Rae-yoon at ONE Fight Night 23 on Saturday.
The Turkish fighter did enough damage over five intense rounds to win the fight, even if his failure to make weight or pass the hydration tests meant only former MMA lightweight champion Ok had the chance to win the belt up for grabs.
Battling for the interim lightweight title at Lumpinee Stadium in the night’s headline bout, the decisive moment came in the fourth round, when Rasulov cut his opponent’s face open with a series of elbows, bring a doctor the ring.
The bout had started slowly, with Rasulov forcing Ok to constantly defend takedown attempts in the early rounds. The South Korean looked dangerous with low kicks and punching combinations, but struggled to maintain the distance required to land them.
Ok must have sensed he was behind heading into the fifth and final round, but Rasulov was relentless and trapped him against the ropes before landing a spinning back elbow in the break.
He landed another elbow at close quarters and a clear winner was starting to emerge, with ONE Championship fights scored as a whole rather than round by round. The South Korean looked to turn things around with a final flurry of punches but couldn’t land anything clean.
All three judges scored the fight for Rasulov who extended his record to 14-0 and established himself as the No 1 contender in the division. Afterwards he told the crowd reigning champion Lee his next target.
In the earlier fights, Nico Carrillo earned himself a US$50,000 bonus for stopping Saemapetch Fairtex in the second round. The Scottish fighter was already ranked No 1 at bantamweight and his next fight looks certain to be for the belt.
Current bantamweight champion Jonathan Haggerty is facing Superlek Kiatmoo9 at ONE 168 in September, and Carrillo wants a shot at the winner.
“I’m next, I’m undeniable,” he said. “Give me the title shot next, whoever wins that belt in Denver don’t get too attached to the gold because it’s coming right off.”
China’s Xie Wie came up short against Tatsumitsu Wada in their flyweight MMA fight, losing by unanimous decision. It was the third defeat in a row for the 27-year-old.
