Flashback: Vitaly Bigdash's scintillating knockout of Igor Svirid to capture middleweight belt

The ONE middleweight world title was on the line when Igor Svirid and Vitaly Bigdash met in one of the most exciting fights in ONE Championship history. The 2015 bout became an instant classic when the Russian fighter, Bigdash, was able to capture the coveted belt via second-round knockout.

ONE Championship recently shared a throwback clip of this incredible fight. On Instagram, ONE shared:

"Flash🔙 This knockout was BRUTAL 🤯 Former middleweight king Vitaly Bigdash looks to recapture the belt when he challenges two-division ONE World Champion Reinier de Ridder on 22 July at ONE 159! 🏆 [Vitaly Bigdash]."

Vitaly Bigdash was able to capture middleweight gold in this fight, but he had to overcome great adversity in doing so. The Russian fighter was dropped several times in the first round, but somehow survived, which showed his incredible toughness.

Near the end of the first round, Bigdash rallied back and scored a knockdown of his own by landing a knee strike and nearly finished the bout via submission.

In the second round, Bigdash wasted little time and was able to knock out the champion in just over thirty seconds. The KO secured the world title and his place in ONE Championship history.

See the full fight below:

Bigdash is now back to reclaim what he feels is rightfully his. At ONE 159 on July 22, he will look to take back his middleweight belt against undefeated Dutch two-division world champion Reinier de Ridder.

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Vitaly Bigdash looking to stop Reinier de Ridder at ONE 159

Vitaly Bigdash has a major challenge ahead of him when he faces Reinier de Ridder for the ONE middleweight world title. De Ridder is a submission specialist with impressive talent and has looked flawless in his MMA run.

'The Dutch Knight' is not giving the challenger much of a chance in this fight. Speaking with ONE Championship, the Dutch champion said:

“[Bigdash] takes his time, picks his shots. There are a lot of single shots on the feet which is smart sometimes. His shots are pretty straight, pretty clean. But he’s predictable, and he gets tired very easily. He’s going to be tired by the end of the first. And he is going to be done by the end of the second.”

Bigdash will look to prove de Ridder wrong. He is on an exceptional three-fight winning streak coming into this world title match, including defeating former two-division world champion Aung La N Sang.

The Russian fighter has impressive Muay Thai, wrestling, and toughness, which he has shown repeatedly in his ONE career. He is a well rounded fighter who will be seeking to earn an upset win at ONE 159.