"The ring will be the judge" - Akbar Abdullaev on his pivotal showdown with fellow KO artist Halil Amir
Akbar Abdullaev showed respect to Halil Amir ahead of their upcoming action-packed matchup later this week.
At Friday's ONE Fight Night 22, the co-main event will showcase two highly-touted undefeated featherweights, as Abdullaev and Amir look to take another step toward a title shot. The judges likely won't be needed for this matchup, as they have a combined four promotional finishes in their five wins.
During an interview with ONE, Abdullaev had this to say about his upcoming opponent at ONE Fight Night 22:
"My first impression of him - he is a good fighter, tough. And a good puncher! My prediction is always the same - the ring will be the judge."
Halil Amir has fought three times under the ONE banner, all at lightweight. 'No Mercy' established an impressive resume by defeating Ahmed Mujtaba, Maurice Abevi, and Timofey Nastyukhin before moving down in weight.
Meanwhile, Abdullaev hasn't fought for less than a round in his two promotional wins, as he secured sub-45 second knockouts against Oh Ho Taek and Aaron Canarte.
ONE Fight Night 22 goes down inside the legendary Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand. The event headlined by Smilla Sundell vs. Natalia Diachkova can be seen live and for free by North American and Canadian viewers with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription.
What's at stake between Akbar Abdullaev and Halil Amir in their ONE Fight Night 22 matchup?
Akbar Abdullaev and Halil Amir are unranked in the ONE featherweight MMA division run by reigning champion Tang Kai. With that said, those circumstances could change with an impressive performance at Friday's event.
More importantly, the two featherweight MMA rising contenders have separated themselves as the candidates for the future of the division. Therefore, a win at ONE Fight Night 22 would further their status as a fighter to watch moving forward and maintain their undefeated record.
First things first, Abdullaev and Amir aren't overlooking each other, as they are aware of the danger in their upcoming matchup.