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Kickboxing icon Marat Grigorian has encountered the best of the best during his time at the very top of the kickboxing world.
The 33-year-old has faced the biggest challenges that are possibly out there for him but one specific task has defined his career more than most.
For all of the elite competitors that he has shared the ring with, his career will always be tied to one opponent in particular. Grigorian has produced an incredible rivalry against one of the other top strikers in his weight class, Sitthichai Sitsongpeenong.
The two men have shared the ring with one another countless times before they both arrived in ONE Championship. At ONE 165, they went head-to-head for the first time under the ONE banner, and Grigorian was able to record a knockout victory over his iconic foe to put another point up on the scoreboard.
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Despite their amazing series of fights, there is no personal bad blood between the two elite strikers and Marat Grigorian showed that during a recent interview.
He spoke in a post-fight interview with Nick Atkin following his win at ONE Friday Fights 92 about the respect that he has for Sitthichai and his success:
"Yeah, we are always on the top. We are doing [kickboxing for] already 10 years. Still at our best. And it's still beautiful to see us on the top, you know. Nothing than respect for Sitthichai."
Watch the full interview below:
Marat Grigorian and Sitthichai are still at the top
Marat Grigorian and Sitthichai haven't just helped to define each other's careers, they have defined this era of kickboxing and it doesn't seem like they are going anywhere anytime soon.
Even in a year where he suffered two losses, Sitthichai put on a great performance against Masaaki Noiri at ONE 167 and went toe-to-toe with both Grigorian and Shadow Singha Mawynn in 2024.
Grigorian recently returned to the win column by stopping Abdelali Zahidi on Dec. 20 to head into 2025 with momentum behind him.
