Elbrus Osmanov Targets Body Knockout Against Ratchasiesan Laochokcharoen At The Inner Circle On May 1
Elbrus Osmanov has one loss in ONE Championship. He has studied it, accepted what it cost him mentally, and arrived at tonight’s main event with a cleaner head and a broader arsenal than at any previous point in his career.
The 24-year-old Russian striker headlines The Inner Circle on Friday, May 1, taking on two-division Lumpinee Stadium Muay Thai World Champion Ratchasiesan Laochokcharoen in featherweight Muay Thai, live in Asia primetime from Bangkok’s Lumpinee Stadium.
The move up to featherweight has removed the weight-cutting burden that Osmanov believes was compressing not just his body but his mind in previous camps. Fighting closer to his natural size, he says he feels sharper, fresher, and more dangerous than ever.
“I feel like I have more power because I eat well, sleep well, and my mind feels good,” Osmanov said. “When you cut a lot of weight, your mind gets stressed, and your body too. But now it’s different. I feel fresher, and I really like it.”
Ratchasiesan is a credible test of that freshness. The 27-year-old carries a 76-21 record and a punishing southpaw left hand that has finished opponents at every level he has competed at, most recently scoring a third-round knockout over Uzair Ismoiljonov at ONE Friday Fights 147 in March. His durability is equally well-established — getting him out of a fight early requires a precise answer rather than a general approach.
Osmanov has one. After studying Ratchasiesan’s movement and defensive tendencies, he has identified the body as the point of attack and crescent moon kicks as the delivery mechanism.
“In my imagination, it will be a knockout in the first round. A body knockout. I will attack the body because he has a strong chin, really strong. But the body is different,” Osmanov said. “I will use crescent moon kicks — it’s a new weapon.”
His game plan tonight also deliberately expands beyond the boxing-heavy approach he used against Saemapetch Fairtex, which he views as too one-dimensional for a fighter of Ratchasiesan’s experience.
“This time it will be more mixed — punches, different kicks, more freestyle work,” he said. “My arsenal is bigger. I have elbows, back kicks, spinning elbows, everything. For me, he’s too slow.”
A statement win tonight moves Osmanov firmly into ONE’s featherweight Muay Thai conversation — and sets up the rematch he has been chasing since his lone promotional defeat.
“My dream fight is a rematch with Yuki Yoza. I want to fight him in Japan, at ONE SAMURAI,” he said. “I want the rematch with him in Japan.”
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