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Armenian knockout artist Marat Grigorian was thrilled to close out his iconic rivalry with Sitthichai Sitsonpeenong in Japan where his journey into the world of kickboxing began.
After coming up short on his bid to claim the featherweight kickboxing world title in August, Grigorian bounced back with an impressive performance at ONE 165 in Tokyo. After two entertaining rounds, Grigorian delivered the knockout blow courtesy of a brutal body shot that sent Sitthichai crashing to the canvas and unable to continue.
Speaking in a ONE 165 post-fight interview, Marat Grigorian was thrilled for the opportunity to secure such an important victory in the country that kickstarted his career.
“You know, my legacy started in Japan in 2015. So, I’m really happy to be back. I have a lot of fans that are always [supporting] me. I really love the mentality, and the people around here, and yeah, kickboxing, the home is Japan, so I’m really happy to be back here in Japan.”
Marat Grigorian was determined to make a statement at ONE 165
Their showdown at ONE 165 was the sixth time that Marat Grigorian and Sitthichai had fought in the last nine years. All of their prior bouts went the distance, but going into the third round of what would likely be their final fight against one another, Grigorian decided to go for broke and break the trend.
“In the second round, I won, and I was glad. I thought I’d have given him an eight-count, but the referee didn’t count it because he said I was holding him. So it was 1-1. So the last one was a decision, so whoever won the round would get the win. For me, it was everything or nothing.”
Sitting as the No. 2 ranked contender in the featherweight division, Grigorian could once again be in line for a shot at ONE Championship gold.
If you missed any of the action or want to relive an epic night in ONE Championship history, the ONE 165 replay can be watched on demand via watch.onefc.com.
