Chatri Sityodtong ponders Murad Ramazanov vs. Reinier de Ridder for interim welterweight belt

ONE Championship chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong has received reigning ONE lightweight and welterweight world champion Christian ‘The Warrior’ Lee’s blessing to create interim titles for the two divisions he lords over, and the promotion is already putting names together for potential bouts.

The ONE welterweight world title, in particular, has a few fighters already being targeted by the company’s head honcho.

In a recent interview with the South China Morning Post, Sityodtong revealed that he already has unbeaten Russian star Murad Ramazanov pencilled in to compete for the coveted golden belt.

The Thai-Japanese entrepreneur said:

“I think Murad Ramazanov should be one of those guys. I think he's undefeated. He's 12-0 and or 16-0, something like that.”

Catch the interview below:

As for who Ramazanov should face, there’s a host of options. One of them is former ONE welterweight world champion Zebaztian Kadestam, who is fresh off a stunning knockout victory over Roberto Soldic at ONE Fight Night 10 last May.

But Sityodtong believes another possibility could be a former two-division world champion. He added:

“I think an interesting one though is Reinier de Ridder. He says he wants to move down to welterweight, and he wants to fight for the title. So that could be a fun fight. I have no idea if that's going to happen or not. But RDR vs. Murad might be one.”

That’s certainly an interesting matchup, to say the least. The only problem would be how to get De Ridder down to welterweight. De Ridder has competed as high as light heavyweight, and is an absolutely massive individual.

It’s possible, but definitely not easy.