Nobody gave Elbek Alyshov enough credit, and he made sure that changes now.
The 27-year-old Team Chingiz Allazov representative dethroned ONE bantamweight MMA world champion ‘The Tormentor’ Enkh-Orgil Baatarkhuu of Mongolia in the main event of The Inner Circle 24 on Friday, July 31, at Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.
Alyshov came out composed and deliberate from the opening bell. He drove through a double-leg takedown early and used his judo base to control Baatarkhuu on the canvas, working to establish a dominant position.
The Mongolian champion scrambled free and found his feet, but Alyshov greeted him with a powerful short elbow in close that underlined the challenger’s danger across all ranges.
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Baatarkhuu answered in the clinch with his own short elbow and unleashed his trademark spinning kick before the round ended, but it only grazed its target.
Round two removed any doubt. Alyshov attacked immediately with a single-leg takedown attempt. Baatarkhuu looked to counter with a kimura, but the Azerbaijani shook it off and reset on the feet.
The champion landed a high kick, but Alyshov absorbed it and fired back with two consecutive right uppercuts that sent Baatarkhuu crashing to the canvas. Two more follow-up ground strikes followed in quick succession, and that was all she wrote.
Official result: Elbek Alyshov defeats Enkh-Orgil Baatarkhuu via TKO at 2:52 of round two
The victory kept Alyshov’s record spotless at 11-0 with 10 finishes, and his ONE Championship run now stands at a perfect 3-0. He also pocketed a well-earned US$50,000 performance bonus from ONE chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong.
More significantly, Alyshov became the first Azerbaijani ONE MMA world champion in the promotion’s history. He joined his own trainer, former ONE featherweight kickboxing world champion Chingiz Allazov, as a source of immense national pride.
The bantamweight MMA division has a new king, and he announced himself in the most emphatic way possible.
The full replay of The Inner Circle 24 is available on demand at live.onefc.com.
Edited by Saiyed Adeem Karim