Current ONE Light Heavyweight Kickboxing world champion, “The Ukrainian Hero” Roman Kryklia and Iranian slugger Iraj Azizpour are scheduled to square off for the third time in their career.
Both athletes have a win against each other in other promotions in 2018 and 2019, but never have they fought with this much at stake.
In the trilogy fight, they will battle it out on the ONE 163 event, deciding who is to be awarded the ONE Heavyweight Kickboxing Grand Prix silver belt that goes along with the title of ONE Heavyweight World Grand prix champion.
The long time rivals fought for their spots in the ONE Heavyweight Kickboxing World Grand Prix Championship Final at ONE 161 back in September 2022.
The Iranian slugger was up against the ONE Championship rookie, Brazilian Bruno Chaves. Aziz put on a mediocre performance earning him a unanimous decision. This improved his ONE Championship record to 3-0, as he had previously knocked out Ismael “Mr. Pain” Londt and earned a decision win over the It’s Showtime, K-1, Superkombat and Glory Kickboxing veteran Anderson “Braddock” Silva.
“The Ukrainian Hero” on the other hand, was faced with the tough task of facing former Strikeforce and UFC MMA-fighter Brazilian Guto Inocente. The Brazilian came into the fight on a winning streak with back-to-back knockout wins, but Kryklia made quick work, as he had promised FIGHT SPORTS in our exclusive interview before the fight.
The fight ended with a high kick connecting to the neck of the Brazilian fighter, and the referee deemed that Inocente wasn’t able to continue the fight, resulting in Kryklia making a huge statement: winner by technical knockout in just 52 seconds.
FIGHT SPORTS will keep you updated on the progression of the fight card for the ONE 163 event.