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Is Alibeg Rasulov the next big thing in MMA after his win over former champ Ok Rae Yoon?

ONE Fight Night 23: Ok vs. Rasulov delivered 11 thrilling fights across four martial arts disciplines featuring some of the best fighters in the world today. When all was said and done, two contenders made their intentions clear that they are next in line for ONE Championship goldThe main event saw the undefeated Alibeg Rasulov extend his win streak to 15 wins as he overwhelmed former ONE Lightweight MMA World Champion Ok Rae Yoon through five rounds of intense action at Lumpinee Stadium. The first round saw Rasulov take control of the South Korean fighter early with a takedown, as he went on to keep his opponent grounded in the corner. Ok had a better defensive showing in the second round, stuffing some takedown attempts from the undefeated Turkish fighter.

Rasulov decided to test his striking more in the third and began to use his clinch game to deal damage with infighting. Before the end of the third, he got another takedown but there was not much time left to do anything with it. Entering the championship rounds, Ok looked to play Rasulov’s game and tried to target his rival’s body. Towards the end of the fifth round, the Team MAD athlete emptied his gas tank with a last-ditch effort to mount a comeback.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough, as all three judges decided that Rasulov was the better man this night. However, with the Hyperion Fighters representative failing to pass the pre-fight hydration test, he was unable to win the ONE Interim Lightweight MMA World Title. He did call out the reigning king, Christian “The Warrior” Lee.

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Meanwhile, Nico Carrillo remained as good as advertised in his U.S. primetime debut as He destroyed Saemapetch Fairtex in their co-main event pairing. “King of the North” came out aggressive in the first, but Saemapetch did not back down and fought back to survive the first round. In the second round, Carrillo had more of the same and he broke his Thai foe’s spirit with three knockdowns to get the stoppage victory. Following his win, he asked to have the winner of Superlek and Jonathan Haggerty at ONE 168: Denver for his shot at the ONE Bantamweight Muay Thai World Title.

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Is Alibeg Rasulov the next big thing in MMA after his win over former champ Ok Rae Yoon?

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Here are the full results of the event: 

Alexey Balyko defeats Stefan Korodi via KO (left hook) at 2:42 of round one (Muay Thai – catchweight 151.5 lbs) – 2 KDs Balyko (R1)

Oumar Kane defeats Boucher Ketchup via KO (left straight) at 2:08 of round one (kickboxing – heavyweight) – 2 KDs Oumar Kane (R1)

Ellis Badr Barboza defeats Aliff via split decision (Muay Thai – catchweight 125.75 lbs) – 1 KD Barboza (R2)

Hiroba Minowa defeats Jeremy Miado via split decision (MMA – strawweight)

Black Panther defeats Ali Saldoev via KO (right high kick) at 0:23 of round two (Muay Thai – catchweight 139.25 lbs) – 3 KDs Black Panther (2-R1, 1-R2)

Tatsumitsu Wada defeats Xie Wei via unanimous decision (MMA – flyweight)

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Bampara Kouyate defeats Luke Lessei via TKO (referee stoppage – right uppercut) at 2:08 of round three (Muay Thai – featherweight) – 1 KD Lessei (R3), 1 KD Kouyate (R3)

Kirill Grishenko defeats Kang Ji Won via unanimous decision (MMA – heavyweight)

Tye Ruotolo defeats Jozef Chen via unanimous decision (submission grappling – catchweight 186 lbs)

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Nico Carrillo defeats Saemapetch via TKO (3 knockdown rule) at 2:03 of round two (Muay Thai – bantamweight) – 3 KDs Carrillo (R2)

Alibeg Rasulov defeats Ok Rae Yoon via unanimous decision (MMA – lightweight)

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