Former ONE lightweight MMA world champion Ok Rae Yoon is on a quest to return to the top of the division, and can take one big step back to the summit when he returns to action at ONE Fight Night 23 this weekend.
Ok will take on undefeated newcomer Alibeg Rasulov for the vacant interim ONE lightweight title at Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, and hopes that, as he enters a new chapter in his life as a husband, he can soon kick off a new chapter in his career as a champion once again.
Ahead of fight night in Bangkok, Ok shared his thoughts on his upcoming challenge during a quickfire fight week Q&A session.
What excites you most about this fight with Alibeg Rasulov?
My opponent, Alibeg, is an undefeated fighter. He’s never tasted defeat at the professional level before. Coming up with a game plan, a solution to defeating this man, that is what excites me. I believe that the way I develop and enact this game plan will determine the outcome of the fight.
Alibeg is a talented grappler. I want to stay on my feet and light him up with my striking, essentially putting on a performance anyone can and will like. So, I’ve been working on my takedown and grappling defense, as well as my overall striking.
Have you added new elements to your training leading into this fight?
I haven’t tried to reinvent the wheel. I’ve been training as I always do. They say that the training environment is the most important, and I believe that my environment at Team MAD is amazing. If I was confident that my training would be significantly better and more effective
someplace else, I would make that switch, but I don’t have any great reason to believe otherwise. So, I haven’t made major changes.
Many of my teammates at Team MAD are in their training camps at the moment. So we’re all fired up and pushing each other every day. I have many sparring partners, so I’ve been training well.
A win over Rasulov would earn you the interim belt and a World Title trilogy with Christian Lee. How important is that fight to you?
I really, really want to fight Christian Lee for a third time before I retire. I believe I must fight him before I call it a day. We’re 1-1 now, although our last fight ended in a complete defeat for me.
Even then, we’re 1-1. I also don’t think there are many people you could consider to be the most obvious top contenders to his title, other than me and Alibeg.
How do you see this fight playing out?
I think we are both going to do what we are good at. Alibeg is going to bring his Dagestani wrestling to try and take me down. I’m going to do my best to not get taken down and hit him with good shots.
Or, Alibeg may have seen Christian’s success against me in our second fight and may want to switch up the gears and look to trade with me. I’m preparing for this too, in case.
Could we get a prediction?
ONE allows for knees on the ground. So, if he comes in for the takedown, I’ll make sure he pays for it with my knees. Then I’ll hit him with my shots and get the KO/TKO.
Do you have any words for your supporters?
I’ve been an underdog for most of my career at ONE Championship. I’ve faced top competition and every time, I’ve proved people wrong.I will be fighting an elite competitor once again, and as always, I want to surprise people and exceed expectations. People can make predictions, but I will continue to win. I ask the ONE fans for their love and support as I do this. I will make it back to the title.
What has changed for you since your win over Lowen Tynanes at ONE Fight Night 10?
Well, I got married. I fought in May and got married in October, so after the fight, I was all-in on the wedding prep.
I had newfound peace and stability after I got married and felt the drive to get right back to the road towards the title. I started training in December, and through time I got the offer for this upcoming fight. I was always active, always training for the next fight whenever it came.
Tell us about your wife. How did you know she was the one? How does she inspire you?
I met my wife through mutual friends. We were all hanging out as a group, and we connected.
We had good feelings for each other and kept in touch afterwards.
As to when I thought she was the one: even when I wasn’t making much money when I was an unknown fighter, she stayed by my side. I felt comfortable when I was with her. She believed in me and wanted me to do what made me happy in life, and never pressured me to be someone
I wasn’t. I thought that I could spend my life with her and be happy with her.
I had these thoughts, you know? That when I started making proper money as an athlete, I wanted to make sure she enjoyed nice things in life. So, once I made it to ONE Championship and was able to set a proper foundation for my life, I took the chance and proposed to her.
When we were dating, I wasn’t making much money properly. But even then, I did think to myself that if I ever got married, it would be with her.
But life is never straightforward, and I wasn’t able to build the foundation for myself that made me confident to get married. But thankfully, I made my debut in ONE Championship and things started to work out for me in good ways. This was the impetus for me to say, “Let’s get married!”
