Raimond Magomedaliev is coming off two very impressive wins. Having suffered a disappointing defeat on his ONE Championship debut the Dagestan native has got his career back on track with a pair of stoppage victories.
Magomedaliev submitted Joey Pierotti at ONE: ‘A New Tomorrow’ and then knocked out Edson Marques at ONE: ‘Collision Course’ Part II. Both these finishes came inside the opening round.
Magomedaliev has showcased some impressive striking skills during his three ONE Championship fights. Like most fighters from Dagestan he has a background in wrestling but that’s not how the 30 year old first started,
“I came to martial arts when I was 9, did wushu sanda (but) when I was 10 my father brought me to wrestling school. It’s pretty dangerous here in Dagestan not to be strong.”
Striking roots
Magomedaliev never lost sight of his striking roots and used to spend a lot of time watching kickboxing tournaments in Japan,
“Before I started my mixed martial arts career, I used to watch the K-1 Grand Prix a lot. I guess I just liked to watch fights, and to fight, myself, and that’s why I did mixed martial arts.”
His own career on Asia did not get off to the best start. He dropped a decision to James Nakashima at ONE: ‘Conquest of Champions’, getting comprehensively out wrestled by the American.
In hindsight Magomedaliev realizes he should not have accepted the fight,
“I was angry with myself after my first loss. I was really sick, and I had a problem with my knee,” he said.
Top level
The smart option would have been to withdraw from the fight but Magomedaliev was in a hurry to make his ONE Championship debut,
“My coaches were advising me not to fight, maybe to move the date, but I wanted to have my debut as soon as possible. I decided to still fight, and it turned out very badly. I was angry at myself for not being very professional.”
At ONE on TNT next Thursday he faces Tyler McGuire. Magomedaliev has turned his career around with those back to back wins and his reward is a spot on one of the biggest cards the promotion has ever put on.
He now has his sights firmly set on the belt and believes that he is on track to becoming only the fourth man to win the ONE Championship welterweight title,
“I think I proved I am a top level fighter and I can be a future welterweight champion.”
