Saygid Guseyn Arslanaliev has a secret plan to best 'The Warrior'

Though he is prepared to take Lee on, Arslanaliev is disappointed that an injury forced his original opponent, Eddie “The Underground King” Alvarez, to withdraw from the tournament.

“I found out from Yusup Saadulaev, my manager,” the 24-year-old martial artist recalled.

“He called me and said Eddie got injured and ONE was looking for a new opponent. I was very upset, of course, because I was preparing for Eddie and I was training really hard.”

“I was angry at first. I didn’t know who I would get instead of him, and my worst nightmare was that we might end up with no fight at all. So, I prayed we would get an opponent.”

His prayers were answered. Now the Turkish warrior continues his form at ONE: CENTURY PART I this Sunday, 13 October against one of the best young stars in ONE Championship – ONE Lightweight World Champion Christian Lee.

The Dagestan BJJ Champion punched his ticket into the final with two highlight-reel performances against Singapore’s Amir Khan and Malaysia’s Ev Ting.

“Dagi” put Ting to sleep in only 25 seconds, while he handed Khan his first defeat by knockout just under three minutes of the opening stanza.

However, Arslanaliev knows “The Warrior” provides a different sort of threat compared to his previous adversaries.

“He is a good replacement, yes. He is a young, high-level fighter, already experienced. I don’t have any bad feelings about Christian,” he said.

“I look at it just purely from the competition point of view. He is an athlete. I am an athlete, and both of us are trying to achieve in our career.”

Lee is on the back of three successive victories in The Home Of Martial Arts, the latest one being an impressive TKO win over Shinya “Tobikan Judan” Aoki, which gifted him the ONE Lightweight World Title.

With a reputation for finishing bouts by knockout or submission, Lee has plenty of attributes the Istanbul native must keep an eye out for.

But Arslanaliev is confident his secret plan will down “The Warrior” in Tokyo, Japan.

“I understand his style a little bit,” he added.

“At the beginning, I might see how he responds, and then I will try and dismantle him. I have got a system, but I will keep it secret.”

Catch all the action of CENTURY PART I at 8:00am Malaysia Time (MYT) on Sunday, 13 October. The main card starts at 11:00am MYT.