Kang Ji Won was rewarded for beating one Iranian with a fight against another the following month. After his win over Mehdi Barghi the Korean will be taking on Amir Aliakbari at ONE: ‘Fists of Fury’ Part II.
The fight is being broadcast this Friday and the Korean sounds extremely confident,
“I know Amir Aliakbari has competed against a lot of guys, and I also know a lot of guys have failed. I studied a lot about Amir Aliakbari’s past bouts, and I’ve been preparing well for him. Of course, I am here to compete, I am here to fight, and I am here to win, so there’s no doubt I’m going to win on Friday night.”
Learning curve
His fight with at ONE: ‘Unbreakable’ Part II was back and forth with both men appearing on the verge of victory at different stages. The 25 year old admits he made some mistakes in the buildup to that contest,
“In the last bout, I think my mistake was not preparing enough for the ground game and his grappling. I learned a lot from the last bout. I started training a lot on my ground game and grappling, so I’m very confident wherever the fight or the bout takes place.”
His opponent is renowned for his wrestling prowess. But Kang believes he will have a big advantage if he manages to keep the contest standing,
“Amir Aliakbari’s strength is his wrestling and his strength, he is very strong. But his weakness is his striking, he doesn’t really have a good sense of striking,” he said.
Best opponent
Aliakbari will without doubt be the best opponent Kang has faced in his career. The Korean acknowledges that he has taken on a a very difficult assignment but is confident he can pull off the upset,
“I know it’s going to be a tough night on Friday but I believe I am faster and quicker and that I have better stamina than Amir Aliakbari. I will use my strengths to win the bout.”
The Korean feels his key to victory will be taking Aliakbari out of his comfort zone. That presumably means stuffing the takedowns and trying to turn the fight into a striking match.
Kang’s four MMA fights have all finished inside the opening round. He has never fought for more than five minutes but is ready to go the distance and says he will do whatever it takes to score what would be t he biggest win of his career,
“I know Amir Aliakbari will try to fight his fight, but I’m not going to let him fight his fight. I’m going to make him fight my fight and my prediction is, if I see a slight chance of finishing him, I will be finishing him. But if I can’t, I’ll make sure I win a decision.”
