“I can put on my gloves and do one more” - Akbar Abdullaev admits he barely broke a sweat in knockout win over Halil Amir
Kyrgyzstani sensation Akbar Abdullaev can take on another match on a short turnaround after another quick finish of a victory in his latest ONE Championship outing. 'Bakal' continued with his impressive KO wins at ONE Fight Night 22 on May 3 in Bangkok, Thailand.
There, a second-round stoppage of Halil Amir of Turkey came in their featured featherweight MMA clash. Abdullaev turned once again to his vaunted KO power to finish the erstwhile streaking Amir and extend his own winning run to three straight since making his promotional debut in March last year, and 11th in a row in his professional career.
Following his victory, the 26-year-old Al Munar Team and Tiger Muay Thai standout shared that given how his latest match turned out, he is up to plunge back into action even on a short turnaround.
He told the South China Morning Post:
"It was 10-0 recently, and now it's 11-0. Even now that I'm seated here, I can put on my gloves and do one more."
Watch his interview below:
Akbar Abdullaev introduced himself to ONE Championship fans with a 44-second KO of South Korean Oh Ho Taek in March 2023. He followed that with another knockout win inside the opening round four months later over Aaron Canarte of Ecuador.
The replay of the full card of ONE Fight Night 22 is available to North American fans with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription.
Akbar Abdullaev wants title shot against Tang Kai next
After rolling to another impressive KO victory, Akbar Abdullaev believes he is primed for even bigger challenges, possibly a title shot against reigning ONE featherweight MMA world champion Tang Kai next.
The Kyrgyzstani fighter KO'd Turkish martial artist Halil Amir in the second round of their featherweight MMA duel at ONE Fight Night 22 on May 3 at the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.
Abdullaev connected on a clean left hook off a clinch that dropped Amir cold to the canvas and the contest effectively ended after.
The win fortified the standing of 'Bakal' as a solid contender in the featherweight division, which he hopes will lead to a title showdown with Chinese champion Tang Kai in the very near future.
Akbar Abdullaev told Sportskeeda MMA in an interview after ONE Fight Night 22:
"As for my plans, I'm just going to kee[p crushing, I'm going to keep moving forward. I want to be the best. I don't want to say much but at the same time, I want to fight Tang Kai."
Tang Kai unified the ONE featherweight MMA belts by defeating erstwhile interim world champion Thanh Le by third-round TKO in the unification bout back in March at ONE 166: Qatar.