While he ultimately won via knockout, Akbar
Abdullaev explained why his recent display of grappling against
Halil
Amir shouldn’t have come as a surprise.
Abdullaev knocked out Amir with a left hook 2:52 into Round 2 of
their
One on Prime Video 22 clash on May 3 to earn a $50,000
performance bonus.
“I’m feeling great. I have so many emotions now so it’s really
difficult to describe everything with words,” Abdullaev said at the
post-fight press conference. “I’m feeling great. I’m feeling the
best. It’s like a dream now. I’m feeling like I’m in a dream and
I’m happy. I’m really happy.”
Before knocking Amir out cold in the second round, Abdullaev also
asserted his superior ground game over the previously undefeated
Turkish standout in the opening frame. Despite having scored 10 of
his 11 career wins via knockout, Abdullaev explains that his
impressive grappling shouldn’t come as a surprise given his
country’s rich wrestling history.
“When it comes to my wrestling, many people say they were
surprised, but you guys need to understand, since childhood, I was
wrestling,” Abdullaev said. “If you Google ‘Kyrgyzstan,’ we have
one of the best teams in the world. Wrestling is pretty big in
Kyrgyzstan. And I [have been] wrestling since childhood. But MMA,
it’s not just hugging and takedowns and just staying on the floor.
It’s all about [putting on] a good show. It’s all about strikes,
it’s all about throwing punches and kicks as well. So of course, I
was trying to show everyone that I can do everything.”
Abdullaev is currently riding a three-fight knockout streak in the
promotion and is likely on a collision course with ONE Championship
featherweight (155-pound) MMA champion Kai Tang.
“I’m not gonna do anything new,” Abdullaev said. “It’s gonna be the
same strategy, because he’s also really strong [in the standup].
He’s a pretty good striker. I’m pretty sure we’re going to do the
same things we do well. We’re gonna be striking, but at the same
time, we’re gonna do wrestling too… I’m going to win. At the same
time, I’m pretty confident of my skills. I’m pretty confident about
all my weapons and I’m gonna use it and I’m gonna win.”
