Timofey Nastyukhin was born November 24, 1989, in Kazakhstan and later in life moved to Siberia, Russia. Nastyukhin is currently ranked the no.3 lightweight fighter in ONE Championship.
Timofey’s most notable win comes against Eddie Alvarez, defeating the former UFC and Bellator champion in his ONE Championship debut. Nastyukhin trains at Tiger Muay Thai in Phuket, Thailand, alongside elite fighters such as former UFC champion Petr Yan and current UFC champion Valentina Shevchenko.
Nastyukhin’s combat background started as a child with his involvement in Pankration, an ancient Greek combat sport with major similarities to modern-day MMA. His proficiency in this combat system enabled him to win 4 national championships, 2 European titles, and he’s also a former FILA Pankration world champion. This foundation of fighting skill underpinned Timofey’s forging of a successful MMA career.
Timofey’s fighting prowess is reflected through his track record, with all of his 11 stoppages coming in the first round, demonstrating his aggressive style, backed-up with lethal power in both of his hands often exacted by his favoured, straight, right-left hook combination.
In addition to this, Nastyukhin exemplifies his BJJ skill using a specialist triangle choke, with 3 of his 4 submissions coming via this choke.
Timofey’s career debut did not go as planned, losing via rear-naked choke; however, he was able to bounce back with 9 straight first-round finishes, allowing him to enter the ONE Championship ranks.
Since being with the organization, he went 5-3 in his first 8 fights but has since put together a 2-fight win streak, winning 4 of his last 5 fights against the promotion’s elite lightweights.
After Timofey’s biggest win against Eddie Alvarez in the quarter-final of ONE Championship’s Grand Prix, he was, unfortunately unable to progress to the semi-final due to injury. However, after he won a unanimous decision over Peter Buist in a lightweight title eliminator, he earned himself a shot at lightweight gold.
Nastyukhin’s first shot at a ONE Championship title is scheduled to take place on April 8, against current lightweight champion Christian Lee, with the fight scheduled to air slightly later on April 14.
Will Timofey be able to knock off Lee for the lightweight crown, and if so, who would be next for Nastyukhin? Now you have a brief background into the ONE Championship contender, let’s get right into Timofey Nastyukhin’s Top 5 MMA Finishes! (in descending order)
- Vs. Yusuke Kawanago – ONE Championship: Dynasty of Champions 2 (June 20, 2015)
- Vs. Sayd-Hamzat Avkhadov – Absolute Championship Berkut: GP 9 (June 22, 2014)
- Vs. Eddie Alvarez – ONE Championship: A New Era (March 31, 2019)
- Vs. Eduard Folayang – ONE Championship: Warrior’s Way (December 5, 2014)
- Vs. Rob Lisita – ONE Championship: Kingdom of Champions (May 27, 2016)
Coming into the fight, Nastyukhin was on an 8-fight win streak, with all 8 wins taking place via first-round stoppage.
Timofey immediately closes the distance, and Kawanago shoots for a takedown which is unsuccessful. Nastyukhin looks to be physically bigger than his opponent and uses this psychological advantage to continuously pressure forward.
This mentally fatiguing pressure pays dividends as Kawanago looks to exit to his right across the cage. Timofey unloads a looping left hook, knocking Kawanago to the floor and is eventually stopped via ground strikes at 1 minute, 32 seconds into the very first round.
With back-to-back wins in ONE Championship, Nastyukhin intended to continue his 100% record in the promotion.
By this point, Nastyukhin was on a 6-fight win streak, and with an offer from ONE Championship looming if he continued to amaze, Timofey was keen to put on a show.
The fight begins with Avkhadov throwing a high kick which is evaded by Nastyukhin. Timofey then lunges in with a monster overhand right that narrowly misses – which certainly looked to be fight-ending if it landed!
Shortly thereafter, Nastyukhin throws a body kick that lands, briefly knocking Avkhadov to the ground, and as he scrambles to his feet is caught by a left Nastyukhin hook from that leaves Avkhadov stiff at just 54 seconds, again into the very first round.
This incredible knockout is what secured Nastyukhin his contract with ONE Championship.
After cutting ties with the UFC, former Bellator, and UFC champion Eddie Alvarez entered ONE Championship wanting to make a statement with his debut fight in ONE Championship’s Grand Prix tournament.
Eddie challenged himself at 170lbs (77kg), which he hadn’t fought at since 2007; however, despite Alvarez’s well-laid plans, Nastyukhin sought to upset the party.
The first two minutes of the fight were largely a feeling-out process, with Alvarez feinting level changes whilst being mindful of the potential power Nastyukhin was packing.
Alvarez uncorked a leg kick, which was caught by Nastyukhin and, countering with a straight right, floored Alvarez momentarily. After being knocked down, Eddie looked to get his own back, but Nastyukhin was able to utilize a variety of high kicks to keep Alvarez at bay.
Four minutes into the first round, Alvarez fired out a jab which Nastyukhin dodges to fire back a straight right-left hook that visibly hurts Alvarez. Nastyukhin then wastes no time in jumping on the opportunity to fire an overhand right that drops Alvarez before proceeding to finish the job with some lethal blows on the ground 4 minutes and 5 seconds into the first round.
This win gave Nastyukhin not only the most notable win of his career but progressed him to the semi-final of the Lightweight Grand Prix tournament. However, Nastyukhin had to pull out due to injury, but regardless of that, his future still gleamed brightly, with a title shot forthcoming in the immediate future.
Nastyukhin aimed to continue his 7-fight win streak and excite audiences in his ONE Championship debut.
Timofey came out aggressive, knocking down Folayang just 30 seconds into the first round with a brutal overhand right, and then stumbles Folayang again with a left hook as he returns to his feet.
Timofey continues to look for the overhand right and finds success throughout the round countering Folayang’s leg kicks.
Three minutes into the first round Nastyukhin pressures forward, leaps into the air and connects with a majestic, flying knee separating Folayang from consciousness, 3 minutes, 11 seconds into the first round.
Nastyukhin, debuting with a flying knee knockout showed the MMA world and ONE Championship that he really meant business as he soared up the lightweight division rankings.
After losing his second professional MMA fight, putting a halt to Timofey’s impressive 9-fight win streak, Nastyukhin looked to return with a bang.
After touching gloves as the first round commenced, Lisita pressured forward and threw a leg kick. However, he was met by a straight right and powerful short left hook rendering him unconscious prior to hitting the canvas just 6 seconds into the first round.
This win nudged Nastyukhin back into the groove of his winning ways as he etched himself into ONE Championship folklore with the fastest knockout in the promotion’s history.
