Watch: Vitaly Bigdash’s world title winning performance against Igor Svirid in 2015

Vitaly Bigdash was in one of the most exciting fights in MMA history when he captured the ONE middleweight world title against Igor Svirid in 2015. ONE Championship on Instagram recently shared a clip of the near-submission finish from this electric bout.

On Instagram, ONE posted:

"Race against time ⏰ Vitaly Bigdash challenges two-division ONE World Champion Reinier de Ridder for the middleweight throne on July 22 at ONE 159! 🏆"

Vitaly Bigdash was a then-undefeated fighter trying for his first world title. The defending champion Svirid had major success in this fight, knocking down the Russian in the opening round multiple times.

But Bigdash has legendary toughness and grit. These strengths were on full display in this bout as he was able to rally in this fight, and score a knockdown of his own, as well as nearly finish the fight at the end of the first round. The clock sounded, and Bigdash was not able to finish, as shown in the clip above.

Early in round two, though, Bigdash would win this fight via TKO in only thirty-six seconds, thus earning him the ONE middleweight world championship.

He then lost this belt to 'The Burmese Python' Aung La N Sang, and now at ONE 159 on July 22, he has an opportunity to win back the belt against undefeated two-division world champion Reinier de Ridder.

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Vitaly Bigdash seeking a championship at ONE 159

Vitaly Bigdash has now completed his trilogy against Aung La N Sang and came out victorious. This has earned him his world title shot against reigning double champion Reinier de Ridder.

The former titleholder discussed his July 22 title opportunity in an interview with ONE. Bigdash said:

“Five years and 22 days. That’s how long it will have been since I held the belt in my hands. And every hour, every minute has been dedicated to exactly this moment. It will be the new step in my career I’ve long been longing for. It will be the peak of my MMA career. Taking the belt of the best league in the world is the dream of every MMA fighter.”

The Russian-born former champion has a major challenge ahead of him in trying to unseat the reigning undefeated Dutch double champion. At ONE 159 on July 22, Bigdash will be looking to do just that.