Roman Kryklia battles Alex Roberts for inaugural heavyweight Muay Thai crown at ONE Fight Night 17

History will go down on December 8 when Roman Kryklia takes on Alex Roberts for the inaugural ONE Heavyweight Muay Thai World Championship.

This monumental matchup is the new marquee bout for ONE Fight Night 17 on Prime Video. It airs live in U.S. primetime from the legendary Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.

The event was supposed to be headlined by the highly anticipated encounter between Tawanchai PK Saenchai and Superbon Singha Mawyn for the ONE Featherweight Muay Thai World title.

However, the clash got moved to ONE Friday Fights 46 on December 22. This is because Tawanchai incurred an undisclosed illness, which caused the two-week delay.

Fortunately, ONE Championship found an equally important showdown to close out the final show on Amazon’s Prime Video for 2023.

Kryklia has been untouchable since he directed his career path to the world’s largest martial arts organization in 2019.

In his maiden appearance, the Ukrainian behemoth left a lasting impression. He knocked out Tarik Khbabez to capture the inaugural ONE Light Heavyweight Kickboxing World Championship.

Following two successful title defenses, Kryklia then added the 2022 ONE Heavyweight Kickboxing World Grand Prix crown to his list of accolades.

In the tournament, he scored impressive wins against the likes of Guto Inocente and Iraj Azizpour to bring home the silver-plated strap.

Now, Kryklia aims to become the latest two-sport ONE World Champion. In fact, he wants to follow in the footsteps of Jonathan Haggerty, who achieved the feat just a month prior.

Alex Roberts poses the ability to spoil Roman Kryklia’s date with destiny

Standing in Roman Kryklia’s path to glory is Alex Roberts. He is an elite Australian striker poised to make a name for himself in The Home of Martial Arts.

Roberts enters the ring with significant momentum. He’s fresh off a career-defining victory over Lyndon Knowles. There, he claimed the WBC Heavyweight Muay Thai World Title this past October.

However, the real test awaits him on December 8. This is an opportunity for Roberts to etch his name into the history books by becoming the first man to defeat Kryklia in ONE.

At the same time, a victory will also enshrine him as the inaugural king of the heavyweight Muay Thai division.