Heading to the scorecards at ONE on TNT 1 on Wednesday night, Raimond Magomedaliev might have been just a little nervous. Throughout his fight with former title challenger Tyler McGuire, the Russian had questioned his own performance.
“During the fight, I had my own doubts, but my cornerman told me that the first and second round, I won,” he told media outlets during a virtual press scrum following the event. “So it made me more confident to go into the third round and finish up and do what I can do.”
The fight didn’t quite play out the way Magomedaliev (8-1) expected. “I was expecting some more attacks, more wrestling, but he didn’t surprise me in that sense. So I’m happy that I won.”
If Raimond Magomedaliev sounded a little unhappy with his own performance, it was because “In my head, I had my plan, and I was very confident to finish him in the first round. But because of my physical conditioning, it was really hard to [fight] according to my plan.” Conditioning aside, taking home a unanimous decision win over a former title challenger on ONE’s biggest card of the year to date is no small feat.
It could also lead to a shot at gold, something Magomedaliev would welcome. “If the organization decides to put that fight [together], I would be happy to do that.”
Watch the full ONE on TNT 1 post-fight press scrum with Raimond Magomedaliev above.
