The golden main event will feature a trilogy bout that will settle a score on the global stage between current ONE Light Heavyweight Kickboxing World Champion Roman Kryklia and Iran's Iraj Azizpour.
The two sluggers first met in 2018, with Azizpour earning a narrow majority decision. Two years later, they collided again, with Kryklia taking home a unanimous decision victory. Following that match, Kryklia jumped to ONE and into the title picture.
The Ukrainian secured light-heavyweight gold in his debut match against Tarik Khbabez with a TKO in the second round. In 2020, Kryklia returned to defend the World Championship for the first time against Andrei Stoica and cruised to a five-round unanimous decision victory.
Kryklia has been unbeaten since that majority decision loss to the Iranian three years ago.
With Azizpour ready to join ONE Super Series action, the series needed to be decided. Given the stature of the two world-class strikers and their history, it made sense to introduce the inaugural ONE Heavyweight Kickboxing World Championship to elevate the stakes even higher.
Kryklia had no problem accepting the heavyweight showdown with history on the line to be a two-division kickboxing World Champion. The door opens to a whole new world of possibilities if he can secure the victory with two divisions worth of contenders eyeing gold.
ONE: NextGen's heavyweight main event is locked and loaded, ready to deliver a memorable title tilt and anoint a heavyweight kingpin.
ONE: NextGen airs across all Bleacher Report platforms at 8:30 a.m. EST/5:30 a.m. PST on Friday, October 29.
