WATCH: Akbar Abdullaev shuts Halil Amir's lights off with nasty left hook from hell at ONE Fight Night 22
Watching two undefeated fighters duke it out is always an exciting time as someone's zero has got to go. Akbar Abdullaev made sure that it would not be him at ONE Fight Night 22 on Friday, May 3.
The featherweight MMA star shared the ring with fellow undefeated fighter Halil Amir in the co-main event and both men were eager to keep their ONE Championship records squeaky clean.
In the first round, 'Bakal' and Amir grappled on the ground in the hopes of getting a finish, though none would come. It quickly turned into a stalemate as their grappling matched up quite well with each other.
However, Abdullaev would find the opening he needed midway through the second round, pushing off 'No Mercy' during another grappling exchange and Amir took it as a chance to get some breathing room.
As seen in the video posted by ONE Championship above, the Kyrgyzstan native fired off a hellacious left hook to Amir's chin that knocked him out on his feet. Abdullaev ensured that he stayed down with a massive right hand as Amir stared at the lights.
What might be next for Akbar Abdullaev?
With him improving his ONE Championship record to 3-0, every win on which being a finish, Abdullaev is quickly making it known that he is the next big thing in the featherweight MMA division.
Currently unranked, fans just might see Abdullaev take on one of the names in the top five, potentially either of No. 5 Shamil Gasanov, No. 4 Martin Nguyen or No. 3 Ilya Freymanov in his next foray inside the circle.
Those three names have yet to be booked for a fight this year and Abdullaev's performance may have just earned him the right to challenge one of them for a spot in the rankings.