Chatri Sityodtong details why De Ridder vs. Kiamrian Abbasov match was made

15 January 2022

ONE Championship recently announced an exciting Middleweight title fight between Reinier De Ridder and Kiamrian Abbasov. De Ridder will be going into the fight as the Middleweight champion and on the back of an undefeated record when Abbasov is the reigning ONE Welterweight champion.

Speaking at the media conference call after ONE: Heavy Hitters, ONE Championship Chairman, and CEO Chatri Sityodtong detailed why the fight between De Ridder and Abbasov was made. He noted that a lot of fighters turned down the offer to fight De Ridder.

“You’ll be surprised that a lot of people turned down Reinier De Ridder. So, it has been hard for us to find an opponent for us. But we are constantly on the lookout for great athletes in every weight division and so yes, Reinier will have his hands full. Kiamrian wanted to challenge Reinier and we thought, yes, that could be a fun fight,” Chatri said.

Abbasov is currently 23-4 in his career and is on a five-fight winning streak at the moment. De Ridder, meanwhile, won two back-to-back fights against Aung La N Sang recently which made him a two-division champion in the promotion.

ALSO READ | Aung La N Sang to fight Vitaly Bigdash in Trilogy fight in February

The fight between Reinier De Ridder and Abbasov is set to happen at ONE: Full Circle on February 25, 2022. Meanwhile, former Middleweight champion Aung La N Sang will be locking horns with Vitaly Bigdash in a trilogy bout in February as well.

ALSO READ | Reinier De Ridder vs. Kiamrian Abbasov announced by ONE Championship

What are your thoughts on the matchup between De Ridder and Abbasov? Let us know in the comment section of the article below.

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