Watch: ONE's biggest trilogy? Revisiting Aung La N Sang vs Vitaly Bigdash

Throughout their trilogy, Aung La N Sang and Vitaly Bigdash have shared the ONE Championship circle for over an hour, 13 rounds. The two exchanged world titles in addition to strikes and grappling.

Check out the highlight reel from ONE Championship of their three legendary matches.

Their first fight in January 2017 was for the ONE Championship middleweight title. It was an exciting back and forth bout which featured everything mixed martial arts could offer. Takedowns, reversals, ground and pound, standing strikes, it was a battle. The fight went full-time with the Russian Bigdash winning this bout via unanimous decision.

Due to how exciting the first match was, ONE Championship scheduled a rematch between the two as quickly as possible. The second fight came in June of 2017 with the middleweight title on the line. This time, though, the results would not be the same. Aung La N Sang was able to survive the early takedowns and land thunderous shots of his own. He controlled and out-struck Bigdash, even nearly dropping the Russian champion. This time, the judges gave it to Aung La N Sang via decision.

In an interview with ONE Championship regarding this fight, Aung La N Sang said:

"By the time I fought, I was mentally, physically, and spiritually there. For me, that’s important."

This fight started the reign of Sang. After this he would defend this middleweight title in three fights plus he would capture and defend the light heavyweight title as well.

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Aung La N Sang vs Vitaly Bigdash III

The two fighters were tied 1-1 in this trilogy but their careers would go in different directions. The 'Burmese Python' would capture and defend multiple titles in ONE Championship. Until losing both titles to the Dutch fighter Reinier De Ridder.

Bigdash would only take a few fights in that time due to various cancelations. He had an immediate loss to Leandro Ataides, followed by a win over Yuki Niimura. The two were scheduled for their final trilogy fight in 2020 and again in 2021 but both fights were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Finally, in February of 2022 they could finish their trilogy.

Heading into the fight, Aung La N Sang said:

"Since our first meeting five years ago, I don’t think we’re the same fighters anymore. You go into a fight working on all your skill sets, and you game plan the best for the guy you’re going to fight. I approached this as a brand new fight. It’s not like we fought a few months ago. It’s been five years. But we did go ten rounds, so I know what his strong suit is."

In an interview ahead of the fight, Bigdash said:

"The main part of my training camp was done with Fedor Emelianenko’s team in Stary Oskol. I had great training partners... It is full of highly decorated guys with amazing skill sets and work ethics. This camp was very hard, everyone gave it their all! I got in shape. I’ve learned a lot, you will see. All that’s left is to bring it all to the fight."

At this event, the Russian Bigdash was able to secure takedowns and control for much of the fight. Aung La had moments of pushing and rallying back as he got up from takedowns and reversed clinches. But, the story of the fight was of Bigdash's control and dominance. He had impressive moments of ground and pound and nearly earned a submission too.

The series ended with two wins to one in favor of Bigdash.

On the loss, Sang simply said:

"Sometimes you’ve got to just smile and keep going."