On 6 July 2024, ONE Championship, an internationally renowned sports IP, will bring fans "ONE: PINNACLE Series 23." In the heavyweight mixed martial arts bout of the day, South Korean heavy gunner Kang Ji Won takes on European Wrestling Champion Kirill Grishenko. It's going to be a battle between knockout artists and wrestlers.
Kang Ji Won has a "big white" body and a terrifying punch that has brought him to ONE Championship with all four victories. Kang Ji-won was in danger for a moment in his Circle debut against Iranian wrestling sensation Mehdi Barghi, but he showed great willpower and scored a first-round takeaway TKO victory with ground-and-pounding. He then met Wrestling Champion Amir Aliakbari. After being swollen in the eye by the opponent's heavy punch, Kang Ji Won broke out with a heavy punch and counterattacked KO again! The two games made people see Kang Ji Won's super thick blood bar, amazing explosiveness, and tenacious willpower.
Kang wasn't without his weaknesses, though, as he encountered a submission on the ground when he met Marcus "The God of Jiu-Jitsu" Almeida. After that, Kang Ji-won used his heavy punch skills to knock out Paul Elliott in just 58 seconds. But then he was crushed by grappling sensation Ben Tynan and submitted with an arm-triangle choke. Kang Ji Won came into this match against Mikhail Jamal Abdul-Latif in their last outing. Against a wrestling-style opponent, Kang Ji-won proved her progress, withstanding the ground-and-pound and counter-pressing her opponent in the second round, unleashing ground-and-pound punches to end the fight by TKO.
The victory also gave Kang Ji-won more experience against wrestlers: "Grishenko is a great wrestler, a tall fighter with great physical fitness and almost no weaknesses. In order to be at my best, I do a lot of training, especially the things I'm good at, like my speed, so that I can use my best (heavy-handed) weapons in combat. Takedown defense is very important, and I often face wrestlers and submission grapplers, so ground defense has become second nature to me. ”
Heading into ONE Championship, Grishenko is riding a two-bout winning streak, making his TKO debut with Oumar "Reug Reug" Kane, followed by a three-round victory over Dustin Joynson. But then he suffered two consecutive defeats. In an interim heavyweight World Title bout, he was knocked out by Anatoly Malykhin with a two-round punch. After meeting Almeida, Grishenko was submitted by a heel hook in a ground fight.
Despite not returning to mixed martial arts for an extended period of time, Grishenko has been active in the amateur scene, competing in submission grappling, Greco-Roman wrestling, and boxing. In particular, his invaluable victories in the boxing ring proved that he had completed his "self-evolution". "Kang Ji Won is a tough guy with great offensive skills. I think he's the number one contender in the heavyweight division and this fight won't be easy. I'm trying to get ready for the game. This win will mark my return and mark the beginning of my journey to the top. I'm going to be a World Champion – you'll see!"
With two heavyweight fighters clash as they continue to get more and more well-rounded, who do you think will come out on top?