Marat Grigorian believes third fight with Chingiz Allazov will be different from their 2013 matches

Rematches don’t take that long complete, well except for the case of Marat Grigorian and Chingiz Allazov.

The two pound-for-pound greats are set for their third meeting against each other with Grigorian challenging Allazov for the ONE featherweight kickboxing world title at ONE Fight Night 13 at the iconic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium.

Grigorian is the one challenging for the belt, but he was the one who had his hand raised the last time they fought back in 2013. Yes, that’s a full decade since they last traded leather with one another.

Their first match against each other, however, ended in a disappointing no-contest in February of that year.

In an interview with ONE Championship, Grigorian said he’s already familiar with how Allazov operates between the ropes.

Nevertheless, Grigorian believes that he and Allazov have both developed drastically since they met at Victory in France.

Grigorian said:

"Yeah, we know each other already. We fought against each other. At that moment, we were the best upcoming fighters. From those years we changed a lot. Now I'm seeing he's getting much better in these last two years. I started fighting against the top guys in 2014.”

He added:

“Yeah, we both changed a lot. We’ve both fought we fought against the top, top, top guys. Now he's in his prime time. He's sharp, he's ready. I know it will be a very hard fight. And I will be ready.”

Grigorian, the no.7-ranked pound-for-pound kickboxer in Beyond Kickboxing’s rankings, is 3-1 in his ONE Championship tenure. His lone loss in the promotion was a failed bid for the ONE featherweight kickboxing world title against then-holder Superbon Singha Mawynn in March 2022.

After a unanimous decision win against Tayfun Ozcan at ONE on Prime Video 2, Grigorian is once again within arm’s reach of the gold.

Allazov, however, won’t be a pushover.

The reigning ONE featherweight kickboxing world champion is the No.1 pound-for-pound kickboxer in the world. Allazov received both that distinction and the world title when he knocked out Superbon at ONE Fight Night 6 this past January.

ONE Fight Night goes down on August 4, US primetime, and is available live and free to all Prime Video subscribers in North America.