KO artist Kang Ji Won says wrestling training has been "second nature" to improve glaring weakness in his game

It doesn't take an expert analyst to work out how the majority of men that come in to a fight with Kang Ji Won will try to approach it. Heavyweight MMA is unlike any other form of the sport and whilst everyone carries power in their hands, not all of them are known for putting opponents away like the South Korean contender.

All four of his wins under the ONE Championship banner have come by way of knockout or TKO, with the likes of Amir Aliakbari on his record. However, in order to avoid standing and trading with his devastating power, the obvious game plan to defeat him would be to take the fight to the floor.

Both of his losses in the promotion have come to two of the top grapplers in the weight class in Marcus 'Buchecha' Almeida and most recently, Ben Tynan.

Ahead of his return at ONE Fight Night 23, he told ONE Championship that working on his takedown defense regularly is routine for him at this point:

"I've consistently faced wrestlers and grapplers, so working on grappling defense has been a second nature to my camps."

Kang Ji Won looks to put himself back in the mix with a win

Despite his two losses to Buchecha and Tynan, Kang Ji Won is never too far away from the top of the division because when he gets his hand raised, it's always following a finish.

On July 5, 'Mighty Warrior' returns to the iconic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium for a clash with one of the few top names in the division that he is yet to meet already in Kirill Grishenko.

Grishenko is looking to bounce back in this fight after being stopped in his last two fights by two elite finishers in Buchecha and the current world champion, Anatoly Malykhin.

It's a huge fight for both men which could see either get themselves back into contention.

ONE Fight Night 23 will air live at US prime time via Prime Video for North American viewers with an active Prime Video subscription.