Kirill Grishenko is not a man of many words. But the Belarusian clearly took a sense of satisfaction from having derailed the ‘Reug Reug’ hype train at ONE on TNT Part IV this week.
Grishenko became the first fighter to ever defeat Oumar Kane. He was aware of his opponent’s reputation but never doubted himself,
“I was confident from the start. I know my opponent was very promoted and famous among the fans, I expected a hard fight but everything went according to plan and I won.”
There was some controversy surrounding the finish. Kane was unable to continue at the end of the second round with some theories suggesting that he had been punched in the throat and others that the strike had been thrown after the bell.
Right decision
Having been completely dominated for ten minutes there were also suggestions that Kane might have wanted a way out but Grishenko says he can’t say what was going through his opponent’s mind,
“I can’t answer that question but if I was in his position I would have continued.”
He is also adamant that the shot which appeared to do the damage was not illegal,
“After the fight I rewatched it and what I saw was that both of us punched at the same time before the bell. I’m not sure why he didn’t want to continue. Thank you to ONE Championship for making the right decision. They saw that the punch was before the bell, not after the bell. ”
He also confirmed that the shot did not connect with Kane’s throat,
“I can remember I punched him on the chin, it wasn’t the throat.”
Very confident
Although Kane and Grishenko came into the contest with identical records it was the Senegalese star who hogged the headlines in the buildup. The Belarusian barely got a mention but he doesn’t feel that the way the fight ended takes anything away from his achievement in improving to 4-0 as a professional,
“I can’t speak for other people but I saw the fight and I’m vey confident that I punched him before the bell. You have one thousand people with one thousand different opinions. It is what it is.”
With Kane fighting twice in quick succession for ONE Championship there was plenty of recent footage for Grishenko to review and the Greco Roman wrestler knew exactly what to expect from his adversary,
“He didn’t show anything new. It was the same as I was expecting. Physically he is really strong, he has good wrestling but his striking is weak, he needs to work on that.”
Grishenko has flown from Belarus to Singapore twice this month after a fight at ONE on TNT fell through. He had originally been booked to face Dustin Joynson and confirmed he would be open to taking on the Canadian in the future,
“If ONE Championship offers this fight (again) we can do it. I was prepared to fight three weeks ago but my opponent tested positive for Covid so I had to fly back to my country and back again (but) I’m feeling great. I’m happy that it ended in this way.”
Solid start
The heavyweight title fight between Brandon Vera and Arjan Bhullar will be broadcast at ONE: ‘Dangal’ on May 15th. Grishenko made it clear he wasn’t interested in calling out opponents but this win clearly puts him in the title picture.
His plan remains the same regardless of what his management or ONE Championship matchmakers might have in store,
“I keep training and I try to improve every aspect of my skills. Hopefully by doing that I can remain undefeated.”
Given how much publicity Kane has generated a win over the Senegalese star was the perfect way for Grishenko to start his ONE Championship career and introduce himself to an international audience,
“I started really well. It didn’t end as I planned but I did my best and you saw how dominant I was.”
