Christian Lee, Chatri Sityodtong, Saygid Guseyn Arslanaliev (©ONE Championship)

Fighting out of Istanbul, Turkey, Saygid “Dagi” Guseyn Arslanaliev, 23, is just one step away from becoming the inaugural ONE Lightweight World Grand Prix champion. For him to earn the title, he has to beat reigning ONE Lightweight World Champion Christian “The Warrior” Lee, 20,  at “ONE: Century 世紀” in Tokyo, Japan.

“I’m very happy to be here in Japan in front of this crowd here in Tokyo,” Arslanaliev said during the “ONE: Century 世紀” press conference at the Park Hyatt in Tokyo, Japan on October 10, 2019. “I’ve been dreaming about this moment all my life.”

“I’ve had a very long and hard preparation for this training camp,” the Russian-Turkish mixed martial artist continued. “I’ll do my best to show you my best performance.”

Arslanaliev is training out of Corvos BJJ & MMA in Istanbul. He was born in Dagestan, Russia on October 23, 1994.

Taking place at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo on October 13, 2019, “ONE: Century 世紀” is the 100th live event of ONE Championship and its second event in Japan. The promotion’s chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong, who came up with the name to the event, said he wanted to “signify the greatest martial arts event in the last 100 years.”

Featured at “ONE: Century 世紀” are 28 world champions from across various martial arts and seven world title bouts in two full-scale events. Each of the events has 11 bouts.

Broadcasting live in the United States via TNT and B/R Live, the first part will start from 9:00 a.m. JST on October 13, 2019 or 8:00 p.m. EST on October 12, 2019. One of the two co-main events is the ONE Lightweight World Grand Prix final between Arslanaliev and Lee.

Arslanaliev was originally set to face Eddie “The Underground King” Alvarez, 35, of the United States at “ONE: Century 世紀.” However, the American contender pulled out from the fight due to injury and was replaced by the reigning ONE Lightweight World Champion.

The second part will be broadcast live across more than 140 countries worldwide and streamed to 2.6 billion potential viewers through the world’s largest television networks. It starts from 5:00 p.m. JST on October 13, 2019 or 4:00 a.m. EST on October 12, 2019.

Watch the “ONE: Century 世紀” press conference highlights here: