Three Reasons to Watch ONE Championship: Full Circle

The Singapore Indoor Stadium will be rocking on Friday, Feb. 25, when ONE Championship brings two world championship bouts to the global fanbase at ONE Championship: Full Circle. The 12-bout card features an even split between mixed martial arts and ONE Super Series action, and it will be capped off by a title tilt in both.

In the co-main event, ONE light heavyweight kickboxing champion Roman Kryklia welcomes the challenge of Murat Aygun. Following that bout, ONE middleweight MMA champion Reinier De Ridder takes on Kiamrian Abbasov for the gold to close out the show.

The event will be a surefire way to get the weekend started with a bang, and here are three reasons to check out ONE Championship: Full Circle this Friday:

Two-division top dog Reinier De Ridder will put his middleweight title on the line in the main event against welterweight kingpin Kiamrian Abbasov. The rarity of champion-vs.-champion matches is the chief reason to tune in on Friday.

There is also a dichotomy between the two champs. De Ridder has been a dominant force throughout his entire career, while Abbasov has shown the ability to overcome adversity and come out on top. Abbasov will be giving up a size disadvantage to the Dutchman, but if he can put the reigning two-division king under fire, it will be interesting to see how the middleweight champion handles the heat.

As “The Dutch Knight” continues to draw worldwide praise for his impressive performances, adding another titleholder to his growing list of victims would go a long way to making his case as one of the best pound-for-pound athletes in the world today.

De Ridder vs. Abbasov is a must-see for any martial arts fan who wants to see the elite compete against one another regardless of weight classification.

Everybody loves a good trilogy, and the meeting between Aung La Nsang and Vitaly Bigdash is among the sport’s very best offerings. The series is tied at 1-1 after two world title bouts in 2017. Five years later, neither man wears gold, but both have improved their overall games dramatically.

Perhaps the most important piece to this trilogy bout is the fact it will be only three rounds, which means there will be no resting for either of the former middleweight champions. If they want to get back up the mountain, they need to take control from the opening bell.

After 50 minutes of competitive action between them, another 15 will help decide the series. Strap in, because neither man wants this to go the distance.

Yuri Simoes made his mixed martial arts debut in 2020, but he came out on the losing end to Chinese phenom Fan Rong. After successful knee surgery and rehabbing additional injuries, the Brazilian star is ready to show his true abilities against Russian debutant Daniyal Zainalov.

The American Kickboxing Academy representative is amazing on the ground, and he has all the tools to become a dominant force in the middleweight division. Now at full strength, this matchup will go a long way towards showing where Simoes’ ceiling is as a complete mixed martial artist.

If he can produce a convincing performance, he’ll surely be added to the growing list of incredible grapplers who are making waves in 2022.