ONE Championship announced that light heavyweight kickboxing champion Roman Kryklia will defend his title against Murat Aygun at ONE: NextGen.
ONE Championship announced that light heavyweight kickboxing champion Roman Kryklia will defend his title against Murat Aygun at ONE: NextGen.

Singapore-based ONE Championship is looking to capitalize on its recent success with the announcement of another stacked fight card for ONE: NextGen.

Roman Kryklia, the ONE light heavyweight kickboxing champion, will be defending his title against Murat Aygun in what is expected to be a massive clash of titans.

Kyrklia was originally supposed to defend his title against a debuting Aygun at ONE: Big Bang in December, but the Ukrainian champion was pulled from the card because of COVID-19 safety protocols.

Aygun instead faced Brazilian kickboxer Anderson Silva, dominating him with quick and hard combinations coupled with well-timed body shots for the unanimous decision victory.

Kryklia made his successful return two weeks later, soundly defeating Andrei Stoica in the main event of ONE: Collision Course.

Prior to the main event is the ONE Women’s Atomweight World Grand Prix semifinals.

The final four of the grand prix are Thai standout Stamp Fairtex, Indian wrestler Ritu Phogat, Japanese phenom Itsuki Hirata and Brazilian grappler Julie Mezabarba.

The matchups are as follows: Mezabarba versus Stamp and Hirata versus Phogat.

South Korea’s Seo Hee Ham was supposed to take part in the semifinals after defeating Denice Zamboanga, but she suffered an injury and was replaced by Mezabarba.

Mezabarba last fought against Mei Yamaguchi at ONE: Empower and defeated her via unanimous decision.

Stamp defeated Alyssa Rassohyna in the quarterfinals and will be facing a talented all-around fighter in Mezabarba.

The Hirata-Phogat matchup is expected to be a grappling affair as the Indian will use her wrestling to try and ground-and-pound her way to a victory against the Japanese.

However, Hirata is more than comfortable fighting on the ground, as seen in her unanimous decision victory over Alyse Anderson in the quarterfinals.

Undefeated Belarusian Kirill Grishenko will make his return versus Dustin Joynson.

The card also features a highly anticipated strawweight rematch between Filipino Jeremy Miado and Chinese striker Miao Li Tao.

The pair met in November 2019, with Miado taking home the victory via flash knockout due to a flying knee to the face of Miao.

To round out the card, light heavyweight Beybulat Isaev is set to face Bogdan Stoica in the opening kickboxing match.

ONE: NextGen will be streaming live on the official ONE Super App and the official ONE YouTube channel in Asia on October 29 at 8:30 PM Singapore Standard Time (SGT).

Meanwhile, the American audience can watch the entire card over through B/R Live on October 29 at 8:30 AM ET.

ONE: NextGen II and ONE: NextGen III will also take place at the Singapore Indoor Stadium and air via tape delay on November 12 and 26 respectively.

ONE: NextGen II features a main event showdown between Saemapetch Fairtex and newly-signed Thai stalwart Rittewada Petchyindee Academy in a Muay Thai bout.

In the co-main event, surging featherweights Tang Kai and Yoon Chang Min do battle inside the Circle under mixed martial arts rules.

ONE: NextGen III is headlined by an explosive MMA showdown between high-level strawweights Lito Adiwang and Jarred Brooks.

In that show's co-headliner, Alaverdi Ramazanov returns to Muay Thai action against Pongsiri PK.Saenchai Muaythaigym.