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The battle for champ-champ status will take place in the main event of ONE Championship: Full Circle on February 25. The battle of two kings will involve ONE welterweight world champion Kiamrian 'Brazen' Abbasov and reigning double champ Reiner 'The Dutch Knight' de Ridder.
In a preview video released by ONE Championship, Abbasov had the perfect words for this epic clash:
"Two kings can't live on the same mountain."
The Kyrgystani welterweight champion is ready to make history by snatching de Ridder's ONE middleweight belt and declaring himself the new champ-champ. As for de Ridder, the outspoken Dutchman jokes that Abbasov is going to need a stool to hit him as he's too short.
Jokes aside, this match is a bonafide superfight as both fighters are considered to be amongst the finest MMA fighters today. Both are on a 5-fight winning streak in ONE Championship and have been dominant in their title reigns. While this would be de Ridder's first defense of one of his belts, Abbasov has already defended his title last year.
Size might definitely be a factor in this bout. Reinier de Ridder rules ONE Championship's 205-pound and 225-pound divisions while Abbasov reigns over its 185-pound weight class.
'Brazen' will be moving up to fight a man who has a significant size advantage over him. Considering that de Ridder's game is mostly centered around grappling, it would be interesting to see how Abbasov deals with the size deficit.
Watch the full fight preview here:
ONE Championship: Full Circle will feature two title fights and one epic trilogy bout
On February 25, at ONE: Full Circle, we will be treated to not one, but two title bouts. Apart from the main event between Reinier de Ridder and Kiamrian Abbasov, we will see a seismic kickboxing collision between Roman Kryklia and Murat 'The Butcher' Aygun. The co-main event will be for ONE's light heavyweight kickboxing title.
Also on the main card will be the much-anticipated rubber match between two former middleweight champions, 'The Burmese Python' Aung La N Sang and Vitaly Bigdash. As it stands, the two warriors are 1-1 in their series.
The pair were supposed to fight in a rubber match in April 2020. However, the fight was scrapped due to pandemic restrictions. Almost exactly a year later, the two were again set to face each other with Aung La's light heavyweight belt on the line.
As fate would have it, Bigdash tested positive for COVID-19 and was replaced by Reinier de Ridder, who then took the belt from Aung La.
The two former champs have unfinished business and they can settle the score in an event aptly called "Full Circle".
