Ruslan Satiev showed he could swim in deep waters.
The undefeated Dobryna Gym prospect made a successful One Championship debut with a split decision over Galaktic Sports rep Farid Alibabazade in a three-round flyweight showcase on Friday at Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand. Two of the three ringside judges sided with Satiev (5-0, 1-0 ONE), who was forced beyond the first round for the first time in his career.
Alibabazade (8-6, 0-1 ONE) answered repeated takedowns with an active bottom game and nearly sprang the upset. However, Satiev successfully navigated the Azerbaijani’s spidery guard, more often than not dictated the terms of their engagement and racked up points with positional advances and intermittent ground-and-pound.