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Reigning ONE light heavyweight kickboxing world champion Roman Kryklia added another huge belt to his trophy case.
The Ukrainian destroyer completed a come-from-behind KO victory over Iraj Azizpour to win the ONE Heavyweight Kickboxing World Grand Prix Championship at ONE 163: Akimoto vs. Petchtanong on Saturday, November 19, inside the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
The fighters, who had split their two previous meetings, wanted to settle the score once and for all.
It appeared that the Iranian was going to hoist the silver belt after closing the distance and landing bombs early in the first round.
Azizpour connected on a mighty overhand right hand to the temple that dropped his towering opponent. Despite being dazed, Kryklia showed the heart of a champion and survived the round.
From then on, the 31-year-old flipped the script and gave Azizpour the worst beating of his career.
After measuring the distance, Kryklia kept tagging his Iranian rival and trapped him along the circle wall. Giving his opponent no room to escape, Roman Kryklia had Azizpour in a tight clinch and blasted him with an earth-shattering knee right to the chin.
The hit dropped the massive heavyweight to the canvas like a sack of potatoes.
Azizpour barely answered the standing eight-count as Kryklia quickly swooped in to finish the job. He connected on another beautiful jab-cross combination that landed flush, prompting the referee to put an end to Azizpour’s misery.
With the win, Kryklia extended his unbeaten run to 5-0 inside the circle and stretched his overall win streak to 13. He also handed Azizpour his first loss in the promotion.
Apart from walking away with two massive belts on his shoulders, Roman Kryklia also earned another well-deserved $50,000 bonus from ONE Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong.
Demetrious Johnson says Roman Kryklia is built like a "superhero"
At 6'7" with a shredded physique, Roman Kryklia literally stands out every single time. So much so that even ONE flyweight world champion Demetrious Johnson can’t help but marvel at his stature.
In an appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience, ‘Mighty Mouse’ had this to say about the ONE Heavyweight Kickboxing World Grand Prix winner:
“There’s a kickboxer in ONE. He’s f**king massive and he’s got a f**king six-pack, he’s got good pecs, he looks like a superhero, and he’s like bop, bop, bop, high kick, uppercut, right hand. I was like ‘Oh my God, this is amazing!’ That’s one of the things I love about ONE Championship is you get the purest form of the martial art."
