Magomed Magomedov is still unbeaten, though the scorecards didn’t exactly roll out a red carpet. The Bahraini lightweight beat Brazilian contender Lucas Gabriel by split decision in the ONE Fight Night 49 main event Friday night at Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, moving to 16-0 in his ONE Championship debut.
Quick housekeeping, because the name trips people up. As Cageside Press pointed out, this is a different fighter from the Bellator alum who shares the name. This Magomedov walked in at 15-0 after runs in UAE Warriors and Octagon League. Gabriel wasn’t even supposed to see him. According to the r/MMA live discussion thread, Gabriel’s original opponent, Alibeg Rasulov, pulled out with an injury. ONE pitched the 170-pound bout as a possible path to the next lightweight title opportunity, and the timing is about as dramatic as it gets. Cageside Press noted that Tye Ruotolo dethroned Christian Lee less than a day before this card, so the division has a brand-new king and a short list of people who want his attention.
The Rest of the Card
The co-main was a revenge job. Taiki Naito beat Kongthoranee Sor Sommai by unanimous decision in their flyweight kickboxing rematch, and ONE posted on X that Naito dropped him in the final seconds to seal it. Kongthoranee won their first meeting under Muay Thai rules in 2023. Naito is now on four straight wins.
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The performance that should have the strawweight division nervous came from Lee Seung Cheol. Nazareth Lalthazuala spent most of Round 1 hunting submissions and came close with a choke, according to Yahoo Sports. Then Lee flipped the whole thing in Round 2, pounding him against the ropes before taking his back and finishing a rear-naked choke at 3:04. Lalthazuala took his first career loss. Lee goes to 14-1 with 14 straight wins, and champion Joshua Pacio defends his belt at ONE SAMURAI 5 on November 18.
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The rest of the results:
- Nontachai Jitmuangnon def. Felipe Lobo by unanimous decision (Muay Thai). That’s another win over the two-time World Title challenger in their rematch.
- Zhou Jiaqiang def. Mamuka Usubyan by split decision (kickboxing).
- Magdalena Czaban def. Vick Souza by unanimous decision (MMA, atomweight). She’s 6-0 with two straight ONE wins.
- Bogdan Shumarov def. Gasham Mammadov by unanimous decision (kickboxing).
- Victor Hugo def. Devhonte Johnson by rear-naked choke at 1:35 (submission grappling). The ADCC World Champion broke a 1-1 tie in a rivalry dating to their purple belt days. Hugo won at the 2016 IBJJF Worlds and Johnson took the 2017 Europeans. He’s now 101-23.
- Ilmadi Israilov def. Kalandar Tabarov by unanimous decision (MMA, bantamweight). Israilov goes to 10-0 in his ONE debut despite a yellow card for an accidental kick to the grounded Tajik.
Quick Take
Sixteen and oh is sixteen and oh, and I’m not going to pretend a win over a guy ONE was calling a contender is nothing. But a split decision in your debut gets you a spot in line and that’s about it. Ruotolo just took the belt off Christian Lee, which means the lightweight title picture is suddenly the most interesting room in the building, and nobody gets waved to the front of that room after a fight where one judge saw it the other way. If Magomedov wants to be the guy calling out the new champ, he needs a finish next time out. Meanwhile, the man who actually made his case on this card was Lee Seung Cheol, who got caught in a bad spot, climbed out and choked a previously unbeaten prospect unconscious-adjacent in Round 2. He’ll be watching Pacio on November 18 with a pen in his hand.
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