Kiamrian Abbasov-James Nakashima Title Tilt Tops One ‘Inside the Matrix 2’ on Nov. 6

Kyrgyzstan native Kiamrian Abbasov will defend his welterweight title for the first time against American James Nakashima at One Championship “Inside the Matrix 2” on Nov. 6 at Singapore Indoor Stadium.

Prime Fight Management, which represents Abbasov, first brought word of the matchup. Abbasov's title defense against Nakashima was scheduled for April, but it was postponed several times due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2016, Abbasov became the champion of the Prime Selection Grand Prix and also won the MixFace/Tech-Krep FC Grand Prix belt, scoring three victories in one evening. In February 2018, the athlete signed a One Championship contract and three weeks later had a 10-bout winning streak snapped in a unanimous decision loss to Luis Santos.

Abbasov rebounded to finish Agilan Thani and Yushin Okami under the One banner before claiming the title with a five-round verdict over Zebaztian Kadestam last October. Abbasov owns a 22-4 career mark and has finished 10 of his wins by knockout and four via submission.

A former Legacy Fighting Alliance champion, Nakashima is unbeaten in 12 professional appearances. Since signing with One in 2018, the 32-year-old MMA Lab representative has earned victories over Raimond Magomedaliev, Luis Santos and Yushin Okami. All but one of Naskashima’s professional triumphs has come via decision.