Asadula Imangazaliev and Aslamjon Ortikov pose with the vacant ONE Championship flyweight Muay Thai belt after making weight and hydration for their title fight at The Inner Circle
Asadula Imangazaliev’s second shot at the vacant ONE Championship flyweight Muay Thai title will come with no asterisk – and, if the Dagestani knockout artist has his way, it will only be the first belt of three.
The undefeated 22-year-old made weight and passed hydration on Thursday for his main event against Aslamjon Ortikov at The Inner Circle 20, removing the cloud that hung over his last attempt to claim the division’s vacant crown.
Imangazaliev knocked out Nong-O Hama in the second round at Lumpinee Stadium in March, but was ineligible to win the title after failing his hydration test before the fight.
This time, he came in at 134.4lbs and passed the official checks, putting himself back in position to finally become the man to succeed Rodtang Jitmuangnon, who lost the belt on the scale in November 2024.
“Today I lose weight, 3.5 kilos,” Imangazaliev told Thai media after the official tests, matter-of-factly.
For a fighter who has built one of the most frightening reputations in ONE, Thursday’s successful weigh-in was almost as important as the face-off that followed.
Imangazaliev and Ortikov later stood across from each other inside Lumpinee Stadium, with the Uzbek challenger keeping his hands behind his back as Imangazaliev raised his fist and towered over him.
The tension had already been building before they were called together. Imangazaliev did not appear to take his eyes off Ortikov for several minutes while ONE staff shot promotional material around them.
There was some history there, too. Last month, Ortikov appeared to refuse a face-off with the Russian, who was sitting ringside, and even declined to say Imangazaliev’s name when calling for a title shot after his TKO win over Jordan Estupinan.
For all the menace of the face-off, Imangazaliev’s sharpest answer came when he was asked about March’s failed hydration test.
“I say this before last time, I made weight but I missed hydration because for the whole month I was fasting [during Ramadan],” he said.
Asadula Imangazaliev and Aslamjon Ortikov face off inside Lumpinee Stadium before their vacant ONE Championship flyweight Muay Thai title fight
“I told people I don’t have a problem but many people messaged me about my weight. Now why people not message me?”
Imangazaliev will have the chance to answer those critics in the ring on Friday night, when the flyweight Muay Thai title finally looks set to have a new owner after more than a year and a half without a champion.
The Dagestani has won all eight of his fights under the ONE banner, seven of them by knockout.
His run has included stoppages of Panpayak Jitmuangnon, Kongthoranee Sor Sommai and Nong-O, with UFC commentator Joe Rogan recently hailing him as one of the most terrifying strikers on the planet.
Rogan’s praise also raised a wider point about the changing image of fighters from Dagestan.
For years, the region has been most closely associated with grappling dominance in MMA through the likes of UFC greats Khabib Nurmagomedov and Islam Makhachev.
Imangazaliev, along with teammate such as Abdulla Dayakaev, represents something different – Dagestani pressure, physicality and composure expressed through elite striking.
That makes his next ambition particularly intriguing.
Imangazaliev said he is eyeing a hat-trick of ONE world titles, raising the possibility of a future move into mixed martial arts.
“Yes I want to take three belts – kickboxing, Muay Thai and MMA,” he said.
A kickboxing title run would make immediate sense for one of the cleanest punchers and most destructive finishers in ONE’s lower weight classes.
MMA would be the more surprising – and perhaps more ominous – path, given the historical Dagestani connection to wrestling and grappling.
It is unclear how seriously Imangazaliev has been developing his ground game, or whether work at Venum Training Camp has included the sort of MMA foundations that would make such a crossover realistic.
But the idea of a striker with his power, timing and forward pressure adding even a functional grappling layer is not difficult to sell as a frightening prospect.
Asadula Imangazaliev celebrates after knocking out Kongthoranee at ONE Fight Night 39
First, though, he has to get through Ortikov.
The Uzbek contender has been more than a supporting character in fight week. He brings 10 ONE wins of his own, five by finish, and told a Thai media scrum he was “100 per cent” confident he would leave Lumpinee with the belt.
Ortikov has also shown no sign of being intimidated by Imangazaliev’s reputation, even if he will be giving up height and reach against one of the most dangerous finishers in the division.
Imangazaliev, however, was clear about the physical edge he believes will decide the fight.
“My punch is stronger than his,” he said. “I will use everything. I am ready for everything. I am ready to take the belt.”
Preparations, it seems, have not been complicated.
“I always have the same game plan,” Imangazaliev said. “I go for the knockout, I go forward. I am pressing always.
“I want to show people my level, and to show people I am the champion.”
Asked when the finish would come, he was less interested in making a prediction.
“I don’t think about which round,” he said.
There was also no suggestion that the flyweight cut is becoming harder, or that he will be forced up a division.
After March, that question became unavoidable. After Thursday, Imangazaliev insisted it should not be.
“For me it’s no problem to make flyweight but I will think about this later,” he said. “First I want to take the belt, then after this we will see.”
By Friday night, ONE’s flyweight Muay Thai division should finally have a champion again.
If it is Imangazaliev, the next question may not be whether he belongs at flyweight – but how far beyond one belt his ambitions can realistically go.