Roman Kryklia, the reigning ONE Light Heavyweight Kickboxing World Champion, is officially ready to achieve supremacy in two sports.
On December 8th in US primetime, the Ukrainian knockout artist will face Australian star Alex “The Viking” Roberts for the inaugural ONE Heavyweight Muay Thai World Title in the main event of ONE Fight Night 17 on Prime Video.
This highly anticipated clash will take place at the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand and is Kryklia’s opportunity to add a third ONE Championship belt to his trophy case.
In addition to his light heavyweight kickboxing gold medal, the 32-year-old superstar also earned a silver belt by winning the ONE Heavyweight Kickboxing World Grand Prix last year.
He recently spoke to onefc.com about what a win over Roberts would mean:
“Becoming champions in two sports and two divisions is, in my opinion, the dream of every fighter in the world.”
In fact, becoming Muay Thai World Champion would further cement Kryklia’s status as one of the world’s best pound-for-pound strikers.
Despite his dominance in the world of kickboxing – which includes a flawless five-fight run in the world’s largest combat sports organization – some fans and experts have questioned his ability to switch to Muay Thai.
However, Kryklia says that “the art of eight limbs” is nothing new to him as he has trained in the sport throughout his career:
“I don’t care what people think, I don’t do many fights in Muay Thai. I know this is a big part of my life and my training process, so we’ll see.”
Beyond the prestige of winning another gold belt, Kryklia says winning the Muay Thai heavyweight championship would be a testament to his all-round striking skills and the fulfillment of a long-term goal.
He offered:
“I know this win will be very special for me because it will be my first Muay Thai title. And it is very important for me to be the champion because I started with Muay Thai and that was my dream at the beginning of my career.”
Kryklia prepared for five difficult rounds against Roberts
Roman Kryklia knows that he faces one of the toughest tests of his entire career against Alex Roberts. “The Viking” is extremely powerful and a ruthless finisher. Most recently he became the prestigious WBC Muay Thai World Champion.
Given his opponent’s talents and achievements, Kryklia won’t make the mistake of taking him lightly:
“You always have to be very, very careful. Especially when you have this opponent – a world champion.”
Still, the Gridin Gym representative remains extremely confident in his own abilities.
Standing at a towering 6’3″, Kryklia moves and strikes with shocking speed – a key trait that has led to four highlight reel knockouts in ONE. Next, he predicts this will be a major factor at ONE Fight Night 17:
“I think the biggest surprise for Alex Roberts will be my speed.”
Despite being one of the most feared finishers in the world, Kryklia says he is preparing for a long war on December 8th and admits he cannot predict how the fight will turn out.
He added:
“I don’t like waiting in the ring. I like to be very aggressive but am always ready for all five rounds. Therefore, no one knows how my fight will end, not even me.”
Comments are closed.