ONE: Eersel vs. Sadikovic - Anissa Meksen eyes early finish against Marie Ruumet

Bengaluru, April 15: Anissa Meksen has had the ONE Atomweight Kickboxing World Championship in her sights ever since she joined ONE Championship.

But before challenging for the crown, the "C18" will face Marie "Snow Leopard" Ruumet in an atomweight Muay Thai fight on the lead card of ONE: Eersel vs. Sadikovic at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on April 22.

As she awaits her shot at kickboxing greatness, the French-Algerian fighter is thrilled to show her talent in Muay Thai.

"I'm just happy to fight. Whoever the opponent is, I don't care. I just want to fight. I'm happy to fight [under Muay Thai rules] because of the small [4-ounce] gloves. It's very good for me," Meksen shared with ONEFC.com.

As with all of her opponents, Meksen will not underestimate Ruumet. That mentality helped her become the top pound-for-pound striker in the world. The Phuket Fight Club representative also sports a 101-5 record and has seven kickboxing and Muay Thai world championships.

While she has 33 knockouts, Meksen accomplished those results using standard boxing gloves. It remains to be seen if she can achieve the same outcome in 4-ounce mitts.

However, Ruumet is no pushover because of her 31-9 career record. The Estonian has an edge with the rules since she's more accustomed to Muay Thai fights. Ruumet also did well in her last battle against Little Tiger at ONE: NO SURRENDER.

In that contest, "Snow Leopard" used her knees and elbows to score a unanimous decision victory against her Japanese foe. Youth may be on Ruumet's side, but Meksen will use her more extensive experience to win.

"She doesn't have a lot of experience, and she's never fought a girl like me. I'm experienced, a World Champion. My striking is simply better than hers. I have good skills, good punches, good kicks. And yes, I'm confident," the former two-time Glory Super-Bantamweight World Champion expressed.

Meksen last fought under Muay Thai rules in 2018, but she is rediscovering the discipline by working on the fundamentals. Even if combat sports fans say that rust will be a factor, she vows for an early finish against Ruumet using an aggressive approach.

"I've been working on my clinch a lot. I've been working on my elbows. So no, I don't care that this fight is under Muay Thai rules. I'm not worried about that," Meksen said. "My goal is to finish the fight in the first round. When I see her open up, I will touch her."

Source: Media Release