ONE Fight Night 17: Alex Roberts Eyes Victory Over Roman Kryklia To Capture Inaugural Heavyweight Muay Thai World Title

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Not many men have the chance to earn a World Title in their ONE CHampionship debut, but Alex Roberts plans to do just that when he meets ONE Light Heavyweight Kickboxing World Champion Roman Kryklia for the inaugural ONE heavyweight Muay Thai strap this weekend.

"The Viking" collides with Kryklia in the main event of ONE Fight Night 17 this Saturday, 9 December, inside Bangkok, Thailand's Muay Thai Mecca, Lumpinee Boxing Stadium. And for the Australian powerhouse, the timing couldn't have been better.

Roberts is fresh off winning the WBC Heavyweight Muay Thai World Championship this past October against Lyndon Knowles - the coach of two-sport ONE World Champion Jonathan Haggerty - by unanimous decision. And having the chance to end the year with two illustrious World Titles has Roberts relishing the opportunity.

"I'm still very, very fit from the last fight since it was only a month ago. It was on the 14 October. It's only a month ago, and I've pretty much got straight back in the gym after that fight as well because I'm never out of the gym," he said.

"So, I thought, 'This is perfect.' We'll get one more in before the year is over and come home with a nice Christmas bonus."

As a fellow powerhouse, Roberts has built a reputation outside of ONE Championship as one of the hardest hitting heavyweights in Muay Thai. And when he steps over the iconic ropes of Lumpinee Stadium's ring, his equal will be awaiting him.

Kryklia has been a formidable force since entering ONE's light heavyweight and heavyweight ranks. The Ukrainian is unbeaten across five promotional appearances with four of those wins coming by knockout.

The towering slugger has become known for his aggressive nature on the battlefield. He's never been one to step back. However, this isn't Roberts' first rodeo with a taller adversary. Roberts sees ways to exploit Kryklia's aggression en route to capturing the ONE Heavyweight Muay Thai World Title this Saturday.

"The aggression is a positive, but it also definitely can be a negative because he comes in swinging. So, a lot of times, if you're swinging a little bit loopy you can leave yourself exposed," Roberts said.

"I've fought some taller guys before. I think this year I've fought the Eastern world champion, Umut [Eryilmaz], and he was two meters tall as well and quite explosive in the first round or two.

"I'm used to that large range and someone that's definitely a bit taller than me. So, I'm just going to play the range to start with and kind of get a feel for it ,and then once I've got the eyes in, you go for it."