“It feels like divine providence” - Vitaly Bigdash says he is destined to win the middleweight belt

Former ONE middleweight world champion Vitaly Bigdash will have a date with destiny on July 22 at ONE 159. The Russian MMA stalwart will face ONE's dominant double-champ Reinier 'The Dutch Knight' de Ridder for the ONE middleweight world title.

The undefeated Dutchman has been on a tear this year, soundingly decimating ONE welterweight king Kiamrian Abbasov last February and going tooth-and-nail with grappling legend Andre Galvao at ONE X.

Vitaly Bigdash, on the other hand, has also been on a tear since his last loss in 2018. Having avenged one of his losses by winning a trilogy bout against fellow former ONE world champ Aung La N Sang, Bigdash is now looking to regain the strap.

In an interview with ONE Championship, the middleweight world title contender said:

“It feels like divine providence. I feel that everything leads me to the title, and everything that’s happened was a challenge leading up to what’s next.”

While divine providence can be a huge factor in his success inside the circle, we say that Bigdash's world-class skills and hard work largely brought him to where he is now. He is right, however, by saying that all the challenges put in front of him have led him back to world title contention.

As they say, sweet is never sweet without the bitter. After two bitter defeats, Bigdash went on a three-fight win streak and is now on the brink of becoming a two-time ONE middleweight world champion.

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Injuries, obstacles, and a pandemic never let Vitaly Bigdash stray from his path to gold

In the interview, Vitaly Bigdash was also grateful for the opportunity to fight for the belt again, as he has been waiting for it for a long time now.

Always humble, the former ONE world champ has cited a lot of hurdles that have come his way, saying:

“Deep inside, of course, I’m very happy to have this opportunity to fight for the title again because I’ve been waiting for it for a long time. After I lost the belt, I had a series of injuries and obstacles, world pandemics. So I’m very happy that I managed to win a number of fights and again reach the title bout."

We all know that Bigdash is not the kind who would easily give up. His world title-winning ONE debut against Igor Svirid is evidence of that. He survived multiple knockdowns only to come back and score the knockout in the most thrilling fashion.

Vitaly Bigdash is just as tough in life as he is inside the circle. Look to see Bigdash's legendary toughness on display come July 22.