Roman Kryklia's 3 greatest victories in ONE Championship

Roman Kryklia has been utterly invincible in ONE Championship, and his version of the Roman Empire doesn’t seem to be slowing down one bit.

The 6-foot-7 Ukrainian giant is an immaculate 5-0 in the promotion, with four of his victories ending in a terrifying knockout.

Having reigned as the ONE light heavyweight kickboxing world champion since his promotional debut, Kryklia added a vaunted piece of silverware to his collection when he captured the ONE Heavyweight Kickboxing World Grand Prix title at ONE 163.

Kryklia, though, wants to reach champ-chap status and he now has that chance when he takes on WBC heavyweight Muay Thai world champion Alex Roberts in the main event of ONE Fight Night 17.

The two striking monsters will contend for the inaugural ONE heavyweight Muay Thai world title on Friday, December 8, at the historic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium.

All things are already pointing to a potential classic between these two, and their monster mash could not have gotten a better platform. ONE Fight Night 17 is ONE Championship’s 12th Amazon card of the year and is available live and for free to all Prime Video subscribers in North America.

Before that colossal matchup goes down, we look at Roman Kryklia’s three greatest wins in ONE Championship.

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3. Tarik Khbabez

Roman Kryklia couldn’t have asked for a better ONE Championship debut than the one he got at ONE: Age of Dragons in 2019.

Not only was Kryklia fighting for the inaugural ONE light heavyweight kickboxing world title, but he also had a chance at revenge against old tormentor Tarik Khbabez.

The two big men had a bit of a rivalry heading into the Beijing card after Khbabez beat Krkylia at the SUPERKOMBAT World Grand Prix Final in 2015 by decision.

Despite both fighters standing at least six feet and weighing around 225 pounds, Khbabez and Roman Kryklia moved at a pace that would be considered fast even for welterweights.

Khbabez may have had the early storm in the first, but all he did was light up the fire that Kryklia unleashed in the second round.

Kryklia uncorked a hammer of a roundhouse kick that shattered Khbabez's guard before launching a flurry of punches that sent the Moroccan star down.

Sensing the fight was his to grab, Roman Kryklia unleashed a tempest of strikes that forced the referee to end the fight barely a minute into the first round.

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2. Murat Aygun

Roman Krkylia has always been an intimidating figure, but what he did to Murat Aygun was just downright grim.

The Ukrainian big man was in his second defense of his ONE light heavyweight kickboxing world title when he fought Aygun at ONE: Full Circle.

Aygun, by all accounts, is an impressive kickboxer with titles in ISKA, World Fighting League, and HEAT. Kryklia, however, had no regard for his accomplishments and set out to annihilate the Dutch striker.

Although Aygun stood at a tall 6-foot-4, Kryklia showed why he’s a master at handling range and dealing damage from far away.

Roman Kryklia looked loose throughout the matchup and with less than a minute left launched a looping right cross that sent Aygun crashing to the mat.

Aygun managed to beat the count, but all it did was start the doom that was coming. Kryklia, impatient as he is, cracked Aygun with a solid body kick before ending the Dutch star with three hooks to the dome for the first-round KO.

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1. Iraj Azizpour

No man has ever looked to have figured out Roman Kryklia in ONE Championship other than Iraj Azizpour. Well, he did for a minute at least.

Kryklia faced Azizpour in the final of the ONE Heavyweight Kickboxing World Grand Prix and things started slow for the Ukrainian big man.

Azizpour is a natural heavyweight, but the fluidity he often displays in his offense completely belies his size and concussive power. The 6-foot-2 big man from Tehran used that agility to completely blindside Kryklia in the opening round of their match at ONE 163.

A sneaky overhand cross sent Kryklia crashing to the canvas, the first time that has happened in ONE Championship, near the end of the first round.

Kryklia, however, managed to recover and showed Azizpour why he’s a terrifying man to cross.

Using his deceptive quickness, Kryklia pinned Azizpour near the cage wall and rained down unimaginable damage from up close to score his first knockdown of the second round.

Roman Kryklia then unleashed further punishment that ultimately sent Azizpour down the shadow realm midway through the second.