Vitaly Bigdash – “Five years and 22 days. That’s how long it will have been since I held the belt in my hands”
Former ONE Championship middleweight champion Vitaly Bigdash has an opportunity to reclaim the gold he once previously held.
“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,” the former champion said ahead of his title shot opportunity in the main event of ONE 159.
“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.”
Bigdash meets current two-division champion Reinier de Ridder on July 22 in Singapore.
“Deep inside, of course, I’m very happy to have this opportunity to fight for the title again because I’ve been waiting for it for a long time. After I lost the belt, I had a series of injuries and obstacles, world pandemics. So, I’m very happy that I managed to win a number of fights and again reach the title bout.
“It feels like divine providence. I feel that everything leads me to the title, and everything that’s happened was a challenge leading up to what’s next.”
ONE 159 fight card:
Reinier de Ridder vs. Vitaly Bigdash – 205 lbs
Janet Todd vs. Lara Fernandez – 115 lbs
Bokang Masunyane vs. Hiroba Minowa – 125 lbs
M. PK Saenchai vs. Vladimir Kuzmin – 145 lbs
Peimian Zhang vs. Aslanbek Zikreev – 125 lbs
Zhaxi Zelang vs. Danial Williams – 125 lbs
Sinsamut Klinmee vs. Islam Murtazaev – 170 lbs
Ariel Sexton vs. Marat Gafurov – 170 lbs
Jessa Khan vs. Amanda Alequin – 115 lbs
Tae Ho Jin vs. Valmir da Silva – 185 lbs
M. Jamal Abdul-Latif vs. Anderson Silva – 265 lbs
Lea Bivins vs. Zeba Bano – 115 lbs
