A competitive title fight between the returning Christian Lee and undefeated contender Alibeg Rasulov had an unsatisfying result on Friday night.
An unintentional eye poke from Lee in the closing moments of the bout’s second round took Rasulov out of the fight and caused the contest to end in a no-contest. The unfortunate result closed out ONE Championship’s last “Fight Night” card of the year, which took place at the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.
The sudden stoppage due to an accidental eye poke ended what was a close fight on the feet in its earlier moments. While Lee found success as the more active and advancing fighter in stand-up exchanges, Rasulov answered back with his own impactful shots to make the bout a back-and-forth battle. The chin of both fighters was on display throughout, as they both consumed big blows without finding themselves in significant trouble.
“To my opponent, very tough,” Lee said in his post-fight interview. “Sorry about the eye poke. It was completely unintentional, that is now how I wanted the fight to go. I do believe that I was on track to winning the fight, and I would have loved to continue it. So I’m sure that we’ll have a rematch set soon, I’d like to get back in there against him once he’s healed up.”
Friday’s card was set to be Lee’s return to the ONE ring, appearing for the first time since late 2022. He was previously seen picking up belts at both 170 and 185-pounds, avenging a 2021 loss to Ok Rae Yoon then moving up a weight class to defeat Kiamrian Abbasov.
The long-time ONE talent noted afterward that he is expecting a third child soon, calling into question when he might next be available for a title fight.
Rasulov came into this weekend with an impressive undefeated record of 14 wins. The Turkish talent beat former champ Ok in his ONE debut earlier this year, getting by the Korean vet in a unanimous decision result.
Earlier in the evening, Reece McLaren shut down two-division title aspirations for Jarred Brooks, out-landing him en route to a split decision result. The fight was Brooks’ first bantamweight appearance since 2017, moving up from his typical weight class of 125 pounds.
Here are the quick results from Friday’s show in Thailand:
Main Card (8:00PM EST / 8:00AM ICT) (Amazon Prime Video)
Bout 11: Christian Lee vs. Alibeg Rasulov via No Contest, Accidental Eye Poke (ONE MMA Lightweight Championship) (170 lbs)
Bout 10: Kongthroanee Sor Sommai def. Nakrob Fairtex via Decision, Unanimous (Muay Thai)
Bout 9: Mayssa Bastos def. Danielle Kelly via Decision, Unanimous (ONE Grappling Atomweight Championship) (115 lbs)
Bout 8: Reece McLaren def. Jarred Brooks via Decision, Split
Bout 7: Elias Mahmoudi def. Denis Puris via TKO, Strikes (RD 3, 2:58) (Muay Thai)
Bout 6: Yuya Wakamatsu def. Gilbert Nakatani via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 5: Shamil Gasanov def. Halil Amir via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 4: Cole Abate def. Shinya Aoki via Submission, Heel Hook (RD 1, 2:25) (Grappling)
Bout 3: Jon Di Bella def. Rui Botelho via Decision, Unanimous (Kickboxing)
Bout 2: Dante Leon def. Bruno Pucci via Submission, Triangle Armbar (RD 1, 3:01) (Grappling)
Bout 1: Thongpoon P.K.Saenchaimuaythaigym def. Danial Williams via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 1:10) (Muay Thai)
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