Undefeated Russian prospect Kharun Atlangeriev, 25, is taking the most extreme gamble of his budding professional mixed martial arts career. Despite the seemingly insurmountable odds, he believes that great risks result to greater rewards as he has an opportunity to establish himself as one of the premier lightweights in ONE Championship.

Kharun Atlangeriev vs Eduard Folayang

Hailing from Dagestan, Russia, Atlangeriev is set make his promotional debut under the ONE Championship banner on May 18, 2018. He will square off with a prominent name in the organization’s 77.1-kilogram weight class.

Atlangeriev is slated to lock horns with former lightweight titleholder Eduard “Landslide” Folayang, 35, of Baguio City, Philippines on the undercard of “ONE: Unstoppable Dreams” at the state-of-the-art Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, Singapore. The Dagestani fighter said, “I am super excited to visit Singapore and put on a show.”

“I know that he is a former champion and an experienced competitor, but I have no pressure on me,” Atlangeriev said of Folayang. “The pressure is on him. It is going to be a wild night.”

A mere glance at both men’s records shows a sizeable gap in experience between the two as Folayang once held the prestigious ONE Lightweight World Championship and has shared the stage with the promotion’s notable figures such as Kotetsu Boku, Adrian Pang, Shinya Aoki and Ev Ting. Moreover, the fighter from Team Lakay of Baguio City is raring to put himself back into the world title picture after losing his lightweight crown to Martin Nguyen by way of second-round knockout in November 2017.

The undefeated Dagestani fighter praised the impressive background and the world-class talent of the Team Lakay fighter. On the other hand, the former is confident in his own skillset as he steps into the ONE Championship cage for the very first time against the beloved Filipino superstar.

Dagestan

High in the rugged Caucasus Mountains, a quiet revolution is taking over global mixed martial arts. The Russian republic of Dagestan has fast become the most feared talent pipeline in combat sports, forcing the MMA world to adapt to its relentless pace or get crushed underneath it.

At the center of this movement is a specialized, suffocating style built on childhood foundations of freestyle wrestling and combat sambo. Unlike flashy western strikers, Dagestani fighters rely on absolute physical pressure, chaining takedowns together until their opponents break mentally and physically.

No one exemplifies this better than lightweight powerhouse Khabib “The Eagle” Nurmagomedov. Currently sitting at a flawless 24-0 record, Nurmagomedov’s dominant grappling style has left the entire UFC lightweight division searching for answers. Under the strict, masterful guidance of his father and legendary coach, Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov, a whole new wave of disciplined prospects like Islam Makhachev are drilling the exact same formulas.