One Fight Night 17: Roman Kryklia ready for ‘very special’ Muay Thai victory that will make him two sport champion
- Ukrainian is known as a kickboxer, but will switch sports in Bangkok in Saturday when he takes on Alex Roberts
- Roberts has the better pedigree as reigning heavyweight Muay Thai champion
Ukraine has a history of producing kickboxers. Vitali Klitschko won several world titles competing in the sport before moving to the punching-only variety and becoming a household name.
Roman Kryklia will also be switching sports this weekend, with the reigning ONE Championship heavyweight and light heavyweight kickboxing champion challenging for a Muay Thai title at Lumpinee Stadium.
Kryklia headlines ONE Fight Night 17 in Bangkok on Saturday, where he will face Australian newcomer Alex Roberts, and said being champion in two divisions was “the dream of every fighter in the world”.
Very few people talk about Klitschko’s kickboxing career, given the achievements that followed, and while his first fights took place in front of a handful of spectators, his famous ones came at Madison Square Garden in New York, the Staples Centre in Los Angeles and the Olympic Stadium in Moscow.
In contrast, Kryklia can compete in both sports on the same platform, with ONE promoting fights across multiple disciplines, and the pursuit of a Muay Thai title is not about fame or fortune for the 32-year-old, but the thrill of a new challenge.
“I know this victory will be very special for me because it will be my first title in Muay Thai,” Kryklia said. “It’s very important for me to be the champion because I started in Muay Thai, and this was my dream at the beginning of my career.”
Although Kryklia competed in Muay Thai at the start of his career, he knows he is relatively inexperienced in the sport.
We have not seen him trading elbows or clinching with opponents and there is a question as to how well Kryklia will cope with the different rules. He is adamant that Muay Thai is “a part of his life” even though his recent experience has been behind closed doors.
“I don’t care what people think, that I don’t have many fights in Muay Thai,” he said. “I know this is a big part of my life and a big part of my training process, so we will see.”
Kryklia has made a sensational start to life with ONE Championship. He has won all five of his fights so far and captured two titles and a tournament in the process.
He has also picked up US$50,000 bonuses for each of his last three wins, earning him far more from kickboxing than Klitschko ever did.
While Kryklia has established himself as one of the best pound for pound kickboxers on the ONE Championship roster, Roberts, the reigning WBC heavyweight Muay Thai champion, will be making his promotional debut.
The Ukranian has finished his last three opponents inside the distance, but Kryklia said he would not make any predictions and even he doesn’t know what will happen when he steps into the ring,
“I don’t like to wait in the ring,” he said. “I like to be very aggressive, but I am always ready for all five rounds. So nobody knows how my fight will finish, even me.”
