Watch: Vitaly Bigdash's interesting shin-conditioning exercise

ONE Championship shared footage of former ONE middleweight world champion, Vitaly Bigdash, priming his shins in preparation for his world title brawl against the feared two-division titleholder, Reinier de Ridder.

In the video, the Russian star’s powerful shin is seen smashing what looks like a plank of wood or a tree pipe.

ONE Championship captioned the footage:

“Shin conditioning on point 👌 Vitaly Bigdash challenges two-division ONE World Champion Reinier de Ridder for the middleweight throne on 22 July at ONE 159! 🏆”

Bigdash has a great challenge ahead of him, and he’ll need all the strength and conditioning in the world if he wants to dethrone the undefeated middleweight king on July 22. The two square off at ONE 159 in the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

The bout holds major significance for the Russian warrior, as it may be Bigdash’s one last opportunity at middleweight gold.

The 37 year-old legend once held world championship glory in the middleweight division, defeating Igor “Lionheart” Svirid at ONE: Tigers of Asia in 2015. The bout was a one-sided demolition of the Kazakhstani title holder, who Bigdash finished with a monumental TKO in the second round.

Unfortunately, Bigdash wasn’t able to hold on to the belt for long, surrendering the strap to Aung La N Sang in just his second defense. He then lost to Leandro Ataides, and it seemed his career was in a downward spiral. However, the Russian bounced back with consecutive submission victories against Yuki Niimura and Fan Rong.

Bigdash recently squared-off with Aung La in a trilogy bout and became the victor after a hard-fought battle.

In hopes of extending his run, Bigdash looks to repossess the title in gladiatorial fashion.

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Striking is Vitaly Bigdash’s best chance against De Ridder

The biggest threat facing Vitaly Bigdash is De Ridder’s submission game. Since "the Dutch Knight" excels in the grappling department, keeping the fight on the feet would give the Russian powerhouse the best chance at gold.

De Ridder has proven time-after-time that he’s a force to be reckoned with. His undefeated record speaks for itself, with back-to-back victories against some of the biggest names in the division. Bigdash has his work cut out for him; however, if he were to exchange strikes with the middleweight king, one significant hook or counter could change the course of the fight.

This is what happened in his trilogy fight against Aung La N Sang at ONE: Full Circle. They were toe-to-toe in the third round until Bigdash surprised the former world champion with a head kick that nearly debilitated ‘The Burmese Python.’ Bigdash nearly finished the fight on the ground, but Aung La managed to hold on until the final bell.

Re-watch the footage below:

Vitaly Bigdash is very methodical and patient in his approach, so if De Ridder isn’t careful, fans could see a new world champion.