Roman Kryklia has dominated ONE Championship’s light heavyweight kickboxing division. He hasn’t fought regularly but the Ukrainian has always won and it is a streak he is hoping to continue next month.
Kryklia is scheduled to make the second defence of the title he won in 2019 against Murat Aygun at ONE: ‘Heavy Hitters’. having seen two fights fall through in 2020 he is ready and raring to go,
“It’s not the first time we have prepared for this bout. There were some difficulties, but now I feel 100% and in the perfect form for the upcoming fight,” he said.
Detailed breakdown
The fight was initially scheduled to take place in October so Kryklia has had plenty of time to prepare for Aygun,
“With my coach, we’ve studied the opponent and prepared for him for a long time, and now I have a chance to show the results of this work,” he said.
He gives a detailed breakdown of his opponent’s style and skillset,
“Murat Aygun is quite an aggressive fighter who strikes in combinations with his arms and legs, a classic Dutch school of kickboxing,” he explained.
No issues
He also explained why he won’t have any issues whatsoever in coping with Aygun’s aggressive style,
“I have studied him, but having said that, I think I won’t face any problems. I like facing guys with an aggressive attitude who keep pressing forward. It’s only good for me, I’m ready for it.”
Kryklia sounds supremely confident and thinks his opponent will offer,
“Nothing unpredictable, this is exactly what you can expect from him” going forward, and hitting inside his distance. All this is predictable for me. I’m ready for his course of action.”
Complete control
At 6’7″ he is one of the tallest fighters on the entire ONE Championship roster. Kryklia says this height is a big advantage and he knows exactly how to use it,
“For light heavyweight, I’m very tall and try to use my height advantage. Accordingly, the guys who are shorter find it hard to control the situation during the fight and to hit within their distance. This is one of my main advantages in this weight class.”
He admits that he doesn’t have a specific gameplan for this fight. Kryklia says he will see how things pan out once the bell sounds,
“In the upcoming fight, I want to show complete control over the situation. I don’t have a specific plan in mind to end the bout with a certain action. The main thing is to feel the opponent and control the entire bout. ”
Trademark weapon
He does warn Aygun to watch out for the knees. The Ukrainian intends to employ his trademark weapons to devastating effect,
“Of course, knees are one of my favorite techniques. We’ll see if Aygun has learnt how to protect himself from them.”
Every single one of Kryklia’s ONE Championship fights has been a title match. His last bout before signing with the promotion was the final of the Kunlun super heavyweight tournament which he won.
Kryklia is getting used to having silverware on the line when he fights but says it doesn’t affect him. He just wants to showcase his skills,
“When I enter the circle, I have only one goal: to win and show myself off. During the fight, I’m not thinking about defending the title.”
