Aung La N Sang shares his thoughts on " very strong" Vitaly Bigdash

Aung La N Sang gave a preview of what Vitaly Bigdash can do in the circle when he faces double world champion Reinier De Ridder for ONE middleweight gold.

Bigdash will challenge De Ridder for the ONE middleweight world title at ONE 159: De Ridder vs. Bigdash on July 22, Friday, which will be broadcast live from the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

If there’s one man who’s as familiar with Bigdash as anybody, then it has to be Aung La. The Burmese legend fought Bigdash three times in ONE Championship, with two of those bouts being for the ONE middleweight world title.

In an interview with ONE Championship, Aung La pointed out that Bigdash is one of the most well-rounded fighters in the organization and that the Russian fighter is sure to present a versatile offense against De Ridder.

Aung La N Sang said:

“Physically, [Bigdash] is very strong. Skill set-wise, he has good striking, but he has great wrestling and submissions as well. If your defense is not on point, or something’s not on point, he will take advantage of that. He’s very sharp in terms of MMA fight IQ, and he’s always in tremendous shape.”

Bigdash is 12-2 in his professional career with only two of his wins needing the judges’ scorecards. The 37-year-old from Rostov, Russia, has 10 finishes to his name and is hoping to regain the middleweight strap by defeating De Ridder at ONE 159.

The former ONE middleweight world champion is on a strong run of form having won his last three fights. However, 'The Dutch Knight' is also enjoying his own streak. De Ridder, who also holds the ONE light heavyweight world championship, is 15-0 in his career and is 6-0 in ONE Championship.

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The intense history between Aung La N Sang and Bigdash

Bigdash and Aung La faced each other for the first time in January 2017 with Akhmat Fight Team member taking the unanimous decision win to retain the ONE middleweight world title.

Aung La got his comeuppance with a unanimous decision win in their rematch in June of that same year to claim the ONE middleweight world title. Just eight months after ‘The Burmese Python’ captured the ONE light heavyweight world title to reach double world champ status.

With their series at a 1-1 stalemate, Aung La N Sang and Bidgdash met for a third time in February this year to settle the score once and for all.

While no world title was on the line, the fight was still as thrilling as their previous encounters with Bigdash closing the book on the trilogy after bagging a unanimous decision win.