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Marie Ruumet will head into the biggest fight of her career so far when she takes on multi-time world champion Anissa Meksen at ONE 156 in Singapore on Friday.
The Frenchwoman is widely-hailed as one of the best strikers in the world and has said that she's supremely confident heading into this fight. That's despite not having competed in Muay Thai for five years.
'The Snow Leopard' is less experienced and has only had one fight in ONE Super Series so far. However, she impressed on her debut when she dominated veteran Ayaka Miyauchi.
The Estonian was only 20 years old at the time. Now, having missed out on potential fights due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, she wants to stay active.
The elbow-tastic blonde has competed in MMA in the past, but Muay Thai is where her heart lies. In terms of the athletes she looks up to, the 22 year-old cited icons from both sports.
Speaking exclusively to Sportskeeda MMA, she said,
"Tony Ferguson - he's wild! I like his elbow strikes and the fact that he just does the most random stuff."
As well as the former UFC interim lightweight champion, she also singled out Superbon - the ONE lightweight kickboxing king. Ruumet said:
"Superbon, because of how he handled his last opponent. It's pretty much the same picture as my fight. The other guy is a kickboxer and he is a Muay Thai fighter and he just handled his pressure and his punches so, so well. For sure his KO against Petrosyan goes down as one of the best of all-time. I watched it live and I just couldn't believe it."
Catch the full interview below:
Meksen is primarily a kickboxer but given her overall accolades, she will head into this fight as the heavy favorite. Ruumet, in turn, says she has no qualms about being labeled as the underdog.
Ruumet would welcome a fight with Stamp Fairtex
'The Valkrie' is currently training at Marrok Force in Bangkok alongside other ONE stars, including Daniela Lopez, Wondergirl and Denice Zamboanga.
Zamboanga is a friend and former teammate of Stamp Fairtex, and Ruumet believes that a clash with the former champion would make for a brilliant contest.
"I'd love to fight Stamp. It would be cool!" Ruumet told Sportskeeda.
The young striker is the only Estonian on the ONE roster and explained that bringing the world title back to her home country is her ultimate goal. If she gets the job done against Meksen, she believes that she will be one fight away from getting a crack at the title.
The Bangkok-based fighter is certainly an exciting talent and friday will be a true test of her title credentials.
