“It was for the legacy” - Marat Grigorian speaks on the importance of his KO win against eternal rival Sitthichai

While this rivalry has no definitive ending yet, Marat Grigorian’s victory against Sitthichai Sitsongpeenong at ONE 165 was one for the history books.

The two eternal rivals met each other five times outside of ONE Championship, and their encounter at Ariake Arena in Tokyo was the first time they met under the global martial arts promotion.

It was also the first time a fight between them ended in a knockout after Grigorian folded Sitthichai with a sickening left hook to the ribs.

In his post-fight interview, Grigorian spoke about the massive win and how it impacted his overall legacy as a fighter.

Marat Grigorian said:

“You know, this fight was very important for me. It was for the legacy. Number six, we’ve come a long way [from where we started].”

Grigorian, a multi-time kickboxing world champion with K-1 and Glory, lost his first four matches against Sitthichai and only broke the curse in 2019 when he beat the Thai legend via unanimous decision at Glory 65.

Although their first five matches reached the judges’ scorecards, their Tokyo encounter was anything but.

Sitthichai was dominant in the first round of the fight, but Grigorian found his rhythm in the second and sent the former Lumpinee world champion crashing with a knee strike to the body.

Referee Olivier Coste, however, ruled it as a no-knockdown when he saw Grigorian clinch Sitthichai before landing the knee. Nevertheless, Grigorian knew he had Sitthichai hurt and went for the kill in the third.

Grigorian launched into an offensive storm in the final round and landed a clean knee strike before ending Sitthichai with a soul-crushing left hook for the knockout win.

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Marat Grigorian says he’s open to venture into Muay Thai

There’s not much left for Marat Grigorian to achieve in kickboxing, aside from winning a ONE world title.

While that thought always lingers, especially with how he challenged for the ONE featherweight kickboxing world title twice, he’s not opposed to venturing into another striking sport.

In the same interview, Grigorian spoke about his desire to take a brief tour of Muay Thai.

“You know, kickboxing stays as the number one. I love kickboxing. It’s full of action, you know. But when I need fights, I need to keep my levels up, I need to do that Muay Thai fights, also. But the first thing is always kickboxing.”