ONE Championship: Heavyweight slugfest between Mauro Cerilli and Kirill Grishenko joins ONE 171: Qatar on February 20

Heavyweight slugfest between Mauro Cerilli and Kirill Grishenko joins ONE 171: Qatar on February 20

Modified Jan 15, 2025 10:58 GMT

(From left) Mauro Cerilli and Kirill Grishenko.

A colossal heavyweight MMA showdown between Italian slugger Mauro Cerilli and Belarusian tank Kirill Grishenko is set for ONE 171: Qatar on February 20.

Both superstars look to build on their previous victory when they step inside the Lusail Sports Arena next month and move closer to a possible shot at 'Reug Reug' Oumar Kane's coveted ONE heavyweight MMA world championship.

Cerilli kept up his 100 percent finishing rate in the promotion in his last outing via a first-round stoppage triumph over British titan Paul Elliott at ONE Fight Night 14.

The knockout machine picked the best shots throughout the match, landing clean blows that hit 'King of the North's frame and face at full force. Elliott withdrew before the second frame started due to a possible torn bicep.

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It was another similar day in the office for him when he went toe-to-toe with Abdulbasir Vagabov and Alain Ngalani. The Italian martial artist used his truck-like fists to score another pair of highlight-reel finishes.

Overall, 'The Hammer' spots a 15-5 resume, with 10 of his wins coming by KO/TKO.

In the opposite corner, Grishenko is out to make it back-to-back wins at ONE 171: Qatar after battling his way to a hard-fought unanimous decision win over Kang Ji Won in July last year.

Before that, the M2G and MGC standout suffered back-to-back losses to multi-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion Marcus 'Buchecha' Almeida and Anatoly Malykhin, the latter being a match for the ONE interim heavyweight MMA world title.

The Belarusian opened his promotional account with a TKO victory over now-reigning divisional king Kane, and he'll fancy his chances at repeating history against the Senegalese powerhouse if he gets to clear his next test awaiting him at ONE 171: Qatar.