Ok Rae Yoon won't look past 'powerful and formidable' Alibeg Rasulov with Christian Lee trilogy a top priority
Ok Rae Yoon knows a win at ONE Fight Night 23 will guarantee him a third meeting against divisional king Christian Lee. Though he has his heart and mind set on that, the South Korean athlete refuses to look past his next test.
The former ONE lightweight MMA world champion welcomes Alibeg Rasulov to the world's largest martial arts organization on July 5. The interim world title will be on the line when they square off inside Bangkok's legendary Lumpinee Boxing Stadium.
Speaking to ONE Championship, Ok Rae Yoon shared:
"Of course, I fully understand that Alibeg Rasulov is a powerful and formidable opponent, but I do think about my desire to fight Christian again."
The 33-year-old fighter crossed paths with the Evolve MMA and Prodigy Training Center athlete on back-to-back occasions a couple of years back.
In their first clash at ONE: Revolution in September 2021, the Team Mad affiliate stunned the Singaporean-American megastar to claim his spot atop the throne. Unfortunately, their redo almost a year later didn't go his way.
'The Warrior' – motivated by his controversial defeat to Ok – controlled the action from start to finish, eventually reclaiming his 26 pounds of gold with a TKO at 1:00 of the second stanza.
Since suffering his first loss on the global stage, the Busan native has got himself back into the winner's column courtesy of a unanimous decision win over Lowen Tynanes at ONE Fight Night 10 in May last year.
He will now be on the lookout to make it two in a row, claim the interim gold, and book a third meeting against Lee when ONE Fight Night 23 commences on July 5.
Ok Rae Yoon has the perfect plan in store to deal with Rasulov's grappling
When he takes to the Circle for the first time this year, Ok Rae Yoon expects a classic striker vs grappler matchup to ensue.
While he can rely on his solid ground game to give Rasulov a run for his money on the canvas, the 33-year-old admits he'd prefer to keep things in his field of expertise to avoid any unwanted scenarios.
In the same interview, Ok added:
"I want to stay on my feet and light him up with my striking, essentially putting on a performance anyone can and will like."
North American fans with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription can catch the entire ONE Fight Night 23 card live in U.S. primetime for free.