Saygid Izagakhmaev submits James Nakashima at ONE: Heavy Hitters

14 January 2022

Khabib Nurmagomedov’s protégé Saygid Izagakhmaev made his much-awaited promotional debut in ONE Championship at ONE: Heavy Hitters. Saygid went up against ONE Championship veteran James Nakashima at the event and secured a second-round submission victory. 

Both the fighters started the fight on a cautious note and were surprisingly keeping the fight on the foot. Saygid, however, landed a huge takedown in the last minute of the round and almost got a submission before Nakashima was saved by the bell. Saygid managed to finish the job in the second round as he submitted Nakashima via a D'Arce Choke to get his first win in ONE Championship. 

Saygid Izagakhmaev came into the fight on the back of a two-fight winning streak. He had defeated Maxim Butorin in his last fight via submission and had submitted Paulo Cesar Oliveira prior to that with both wins coming in Eagle Fighting Championship. The Dagestani MMA fighter had a record of 19-2 before his showdown with James Nakashima.

Nakashima, meanwhile, came into the fight with a professional record of 12-2 to his name. He was on a two-fight losing streak with the losses coming against Shinya Aoki and Kiamrian Abbasov. Before this, Nakashima was on a huge 12-fight winning streak.

Before the showdown between Saygid and Nakashima, an exciting Muay-Thai contest between Supergirl Jaroonsak and Ekaterina Vandaryeva unfolded and saw Supergirl taking home a split decision win.

In the preliminary card, Tiffany Teo secured a huge submission win over Meng Bo. Shuya Kamikubo also secured a win in the prelims as he submitted Troy Worthen in the third round. ONE: Heavy Hitters was the first fight card of the year 2022 from ONE Championship and was headlined by the ONE Women’s Strawweight title fight featuring Xiong Jing Nan and Ayaka Miura.

What are your thoughts on the matchup between Saygid and Nakashima? Let us know in the comment section of the article below.

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