Ilya Freymanov

Since joining ONE Championship in 2022, Russian rising star Ilya Freymanov has been eager to get his shot at the ONE Featherweight MMA World Title.

The talented fighter grew up as an MMA fan and always enjoyed watching athletes who were good on their feet. As such, he focused on developing his stand-up repertoire and even traveled to Thailand. There, he spent time training at world-class gyms like Kombat Group Pattaya and Tiger Muay Thai in Phuket.

After competing in a few Muay Thai and kickboxing matches to gain more experience, the Russian made his professional MMA debut in 2014.

Representing Kuznya Fight Club in his hometown of Krasnodar, Freymanov patterned his fighting style to what he enjoyed while watching the sport during his childhood – creative and absolutely dangerous striking.

He competed in various promotions across Russia, displaying his stand-up wizardry and claiming knockouts in eight of his 10 wins before joining the world’s largest martial arts organization.

In his ONE debut, Freymanov made a statement by knocking out former two-division ONE World Champion Martin Nguyen in the first round of their featherweight MMA clash.

He then showed the promotion’s global fan base that he has ground skills to match. Freymanov submitted ONE Warrior Series winner Shinechagtga Zoltsetseg in the first round.

Now the Russian takes one step closer to his dream of becoming a ONE World Champion. He faces former ONE Featherweight MMA World Champion Thanh Le for the division’s interim strap at ONE Fight Night 15 on Prime Video this October 6.