‘The Biggest Fight Of My Career’ – Murat Aygun Ready For Long-Awaited Shot At Roman Kryklia
Murat Aygun has been preparing to fight for the ONE Light Heavyweight Kickboxing World Title since 2020, and despite some false starts, the Dutch-Turkish star feels more ready than ever to claim the gold this Friday, 25 February.
“The Butcher” has experienced three cancelations leading up to his challenge of reigning king Roman Kryklia, but the two strikers will finally throw down in the co-main event of ONE: FULL CIRCLE.
Instead of thinking about all those setbacks, Aygun is choosing to focus on the positives.
The 33-year-old said:
“When they cancel the fight, you must prepare [again]. Something like that is not nice. But what is nice is you have more time to train, and then you can do more, you can be more tactical. It’s no problem. You train more, and you will be even more sure of yourself.”
Kryklia has looked incredible since entering ONE Super Series in 2019, capturing the inaugural ONE Light Heavyweight Kickboxing World Title with a TKO win of Tarik “The Tank” Khbabez and then defending it with a five-round shutout of Andrei Stoica.
While “The Butcher” earned a debut win over Anderson “Braddock” Silva, he recognizes that many pundits and fans are favoriting the Ukrainian superstar to retain the belt.
He’s hungry to prove those people wrong – something he’s done many times in the past while putting together a stellar 17-1 career record and becoming an ISKA Kickboxing World Champion.
Aygun said:
“I feel like I’m the underdog, but I was always the underdog. It’s not a problem for me.
“This is the biggest fight of my career. The belt means everything to me. I have many belts, but this is the one from the greatest organization, and this is what I want.”
Murat Aygun Says His Heart Will Be The Key To Victory
Before their last scheduled encounter was canceled earlier this year, Murat Aygun took offense to confident comments from Roman Kryklia.
The defending titleholder stated that he would dominate the “predictable” Aygun, but those words only fired up the challenger from SB Gym.
Aygun said:
“If he thinks that it will be easy work, that is nonsense, of course. I’ll show him what easy work is when I go up against him in the Circle. He’s a good kickboxer, he’s tall, and he’s already been the ONE World Champion [in two bouts], so he’s a good fighter, but that’s going to come to an end. The one that will win this fight will be the one who puts the most heart into it, and that will be me. I always give it my all.”
Though “The Butcher” might have seemed eager to prove a point by going for the knockout, time has tempered his emotions. And that could certainly help his cause against the cerebral World Champion.
Rushing at Kryklia can end in disaster, and Aygun has had time to readjust his game plan. A finish is still the ideal outcome, but a victory is the most important goal – and he’s happy to bide his time if necessary.
Aygun added:
“I would like it if I knock him out but you don’t go for that. It’s a five-round game. You must be tactical. I’m going to [see in] the fight what I’m going to do.”
