Domination: Two-division ONE world champion Reinier de Ridder (third left) reacts after defeating Kiamrian Abbasov (right) at ONE: FULL CIRCLE on Friday to defend his middleweight crown. (ONE Championship)
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wo world champions extended their reign in ONE Championship after showcasing dominant performances over their challengers at ONE: FULL CIRCLE on Friday.
Two-division mixed martial arts (MMA) champion Reinier de Ridder defeated Kiamrian Abbasov in the third round to retain his ONE middleweight title, while Roman Kryklia scored a first-round technical knockout (TKO) over Murat Aygun to defend his ONE light heavyweight kickboxing strap.
Following two dominant rounds, the defending titleholder found himself in the full mount position. He shrugged Abbasov’s arm from around his neck, buried his head in his armpit and cinched up a tight arm-triangle submission.
Abbasov tapped out at 57 seconds, pushing De Ridder’s undefeated streak to 15-0, with six of those coming inside ONE Championship’s Circle.
After the match, “The Dutch Knight” took to the mic and called out three fellow martial artists in the promotion.
“In three weeks at ONE X, Andre Galvao, let’s find out who the best grappler is around these parts. Let’s go, man, I’ll choke you out!” De Ridder said.
“I beat the welterweight champ, I beat the middleweight champ, I beat the light heavyweight champ. What’s next? Heavyweight guys, come on!
“Let me fight [Anatoly] Malykhin. Let me fight [Arjan] Bhullar in the same night. I’ll finish these guys in the same night!”
Read also: De Ridder promises domination over challenger Abbasov at ONE: FULL CIRCLE
In the other main event, Ukrainian Kryklia displayed striking aggression to dominate Aygun en route to a first-round victory.
A powerful right hand from the light heavyweight kickboxing king sent Aygun to the canvas, but the Dutch-Turkish athlete managed to answer the referee Justin Brown eight count.
The next wave of striking combination from Kryklia, however, was too much to handle for Aygun, forcing the referee to end the contest with less than 30 seconds remaining in the opening round. With the KO win, Kryklia pushed his record to 47-7 and earned his second title defense in ONE.
For their dominant showing, each of the two reigning champions was awarded a US$50,000 performance bonus from ONE CEO and chairman Chatri Sityodtong.
Earlier in the night, Vitaly Bigdash defeated Aung La N Sang via a unanimous decision to settle the long-anticipated trilogy and improved his MMA record to 12-2 overall. With his third straight win, the former middleweight champion might have paved his way to challenge De Ridder’s gold next.
Watch ONE: LIGHTS OUT on March 11 on the ONE Super App and subscribe to ONE Championship on YouTube!
This article is published in collaboration with ONE Championship
