Roman Kryklia’s World Title defense against Murat “The Butcher” Aygun was months in the making, yet it took the Ukrainian giant less than three minutes to prove why he is the baddest man in the ONE Super Series light heavyweight kickboxing division.
After several postponements, the two striking stars finally met at ONE: FULL CIRCLE inside the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Friday, 25 February, and Kryklia finished his rival with a stellar first-round KO.
It was an awkward start for Aygun, the stockier of the two, as he tried to get past the rangy World Champion. The size difference was an obvious advantage for Kryklia, who was able to stay on the outside and sting “The Butcher” with punches and kicks.
To his credit, Aygun swung hooks and did hit his taller opponent, but they mostly landed on Kryklia’s arms. Then, the defending king stepped ahead with knees that rattled his foe.
It was, however, a piston of a right hand that displaced the Dutch-Turkish athlete. He went down, got back to his feet, wandered for a moment as if considering his fate, and then answered the eight count.
Kryklia could sense the end was near, and as soon as referee Justin Brown resumed the action, he pounced. He connected with a body kick that wilted Aygun to one side and then followed it up with two hooks to the head, which sent the challenger to the canvas.
With the KO win, the Gridin Gym standout pushed his record to 47-7 and earned his second ONE Light Heavyweight Kickboxing World Title defense.(One Championship)
(Photo credits to: One Championship)