Ilkhom Nozimov Visualized Big Rizin Title KO Win: “It Was My Whole Life Dream to Win a Belt”
Ilkhom Nozimov had arguably the biggest win from Rizin’s 2025 New Year’s offering as he captured RFF gold at 155 pounds, but he actually had an initially scheduled opponent to fight on that NYE card. When giving some insights into the timeline as to when the opponent switch happened, and then realizing he was going to be fighting for a Rizin belt against Roberto ‘Satoshi’ De Souza, Ilkhom Nozimov said [via Bowks Talking Bouts],
“So, at first I wasn’t even sure if I’m going to fight at this card because I’m a featherweight fighter and nobody at the featherweight division accepted the fight against me. Then about a month before the event, I got [an] opportunity at lightweight to fight Bey Noah. He’s a striker, kickboxer. So I was exciting for that challenge to go up a weight class and fight a high level striker.”
“Then two weeks before the event actually happened, they told me that [the initial opponent of] ‘Satoshi’ is injured and offered me opportunity to fight him. That’s when I, without any doubt, accepted it. Because for every fight, I prepare with the mindset of the championship fight. So now it’s just materialized for real. Yeah, two weeks before I was already getting ready for a title fight against ‘Satoshi.'”
Ilkhom Nozimov: winning the Rizin belt “was Huge For Me”
Ilkhom Nozimov authored an incredible win in many regards, not just because Roberto ‘Satoshi’ De Souza was the longest reigning Rizin champion and their first ever lightweight champion, but the emphatic nature that he won the fight. 13 seconds was all it took to secure the highlight reel knockout, and when asked what that moment felt like if he could even put it into words, Nozimov stated [via Bowks Talking Bouts],
“So first of all like once the fight was confirmed every training I started visualizing how I am finishing him, how I’m knocking him out, and every time in my mind it was either knee or either with a punch. So once the fight happened and it really came to fruition, it came true, so much emotion exploded inside of me. It’s because it was my whole life dream to win a belt to achieve something in my athletic career and especially Rizin belt.”
“It means a lot to me. So at the time I was just super, super happy and excited and I was trying to release my emotions through screaming through smiling and laughing but everything at the same time. So it was huge for me.”
