Giorgio Petrosyan’s Top 3 ONE Super Series Kickboxing Fights
ONE Featherweight Kickboxing World Grand Prix Champion Giorgio “The Doctor” Petrosyan has already taken out five of the division’s best strikers.
On 26 February, Petrosyan will look to make it six when he faces old rival and Georgian Kickboxing Champion Davit Kiria at ONE: FISTS OF FURY at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
Before that co-main event gets underway and the Italian superstar attempts to make a run at the ONE Featherweight Kickboxing World Title, we look back at his top three performances in ONE Super Series.
#1 Petrosyan Earns A Cool Million
After scorching every man on his side of the bracket in the ONE Featherweight Kickboxing World Grand Prix, Petrosyan stepped into the Circle against co-finalist Samy “AK47” Sana.
The finale took place at ONE: CENTURY PART II in Tokyo, Japan, where the winner would not only receive the prestigious silver belt, but also a US$1-million dollar prize.
In typical fashion, “The Doctor” used his precise evasions and counter punches to slowly demoralize his Parisian opponent across three rounds and score the unanimous decision win.
The highlight of the bout came in the second frame, as Petrosyan settled into the fight and sent darts through Sana’s guard. One after the next, southpaw jabs and straight rights left the Frenchman frazzled as he tried to attack but came up empty-gloved. To make matters worse, the Italian finished off almost every attack with limbering low kicks.
That offense set up a spectacular third round, in which Sana was left flustered and Petrosyan locked up the Grand Prix title.
#2 Petrosyan Redeems Himself Against Thai Rival
It’s not often that two athletes in a World Grand Prix get to meet twice during the tournament, but that was the case in 2019.
That result set up a rematch just two months later at ONE: MASTERS OF DESTINY in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The second time around, “The Doctor” stunned his rival across three rounds to score the unanimous decision win and send himself to the tournament semifinals.
At the Axiata Arena, both men picked up where they’d left off in the first meeting. Petchmorakot landed early and clean in round one, but Petrosyan spewed steam in the second stanza and began picking off the Thai with his trademark punches.
That rally through rounds two and three was simply too much for Petchmorakot to overcome, and Petrosyan advanced to the semifinals, where he met the next man on our list.
#3 Petrosyan Smokes Nattawut With First-Round KO
Petrosyan is a master of his craft – so much so that no man in ONE has been able to defeat him, even if they’d already faced him and knew what to expect.
“Smokin” Jo Nattawut was one of those men. He and Petrosyan clashed for a second time in August 2019 in the semifinals of the ONE Featherweight World Grand Prix. And though “The Doctor” had put in good work in their first fight, he made sure to squash the rivalry in their second.
Petrosyan did so by smoking Nattawut with a first-round KO at ONE: DREAMS OF GOLD in Bangkok, Thailand, which set up his matchup with Sana in the final.
Nattawut managed to pressure the Italian into exchanges during the first round, and the strategy appeared to be working – that is, until Petrosyan threw a sleepy jab at the Thai, got him to react, and then fired a left hand down the middle that sent Nattawut rolling backward.
Petrosyan has undoubtedly left his mark on the world of kickboxing, and he will look to keep his ONE Championship record blemish-free when he steps into the Circle against Kiria on 26 February.
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