ONE's Expert Analysts Break Down Petchmorakot Vs. Petrosyan

It is the question on everyone’s lips ahead of ONE: MASTERS OF DESTINY – who will win the rematch between Petchmorakot Petchyindee Academy and Giorgio “The Doctor” Petrosyan.

In their first match, Petrosyan came in as a huge favorite, and looked like he would cruise to his 100th win as a professional after a strong first round. However, his Thai rival was far more competitive in the final two rounds.

Of course, some of the techniques Petchmorakot used should not have been allowed by the referee – and that led to his split-decision win being changed to a no-contest – but it is also true that he gave the two-time K-1 World MAX Champion plenty of problems when he was playing by the rules, too.

This time, the multiple-time Muay Thai World Champion will have to be more careful, so how can he win this ONE Featherweight Kickboxing World Grand Prix contest, and even if he has the perfect game plan, can he pull it off?

To get the inside track, get the thoughts of some of ONE Championship’s most informed analytical minds for their take.

Michael “The Voice” Schiavello – ONE Commentator

Petchmorakot Petchyindee Academy vs. Giorgio Petrosyan. Wow, what a rematch. You’ve got Petrosyan needing to use his hands, needing to get on the inside, needing to dig away at the liver, go to the jaw, and really try to solidify his hands and land the leather.

Petchmorakot is going to want to use his clinch, but this time he’s got to use his clinch offensively, not defensively – that’s the ruleset of ONE Super Series.

If you want to use the clinch, if you want to use the knees, you’ve got to stay on the offense. You can’t use them defensively. That’s the big difference – that’s what Petchmorakot needs to understand, and that’s why this rematch is happening.

Petchmorakot needs to use the clinch, use the knees, but go on the all-out attack with them – close down his kicks, close down his boxing, throw knee, after knee, after knee, go to the body, go to the jaw, pull the head down for the meet-and-greet.

It will take a superhuman effort for Petchmorakot to defeat Petrosyan in Kuala Lumpur when Petrosyan is going to come in in the best shape of his career.

Mitch “The Dragon” Chilson – ONE Commentator

Petrosyan – he very well could be the greatest kickboxer of any generation. He has the most beautiful combinations I have ever seen in kickboxing. He throws a right hook-straight left combo that is absolutely brilliant – it is almost impossible to defend, and he is lightning fast with it.

His movement and timing [are amazing, but] every single time he sets foot inside a ring, he is debuting new power. Before, Petrosyan dominated the kickboxing scene with speed, and now he has developed power he is knocking people out.

He has culminated all those years of experience to these perfectly-tuned matches where he is putting on the performance of a lifetime every single time he sets foot inside the ONE Circle or ring.

Petchmorakot has this ability to shut down people – it doesn’t matter who he’s facing. If he’s facing the power striker Liam Harrison, he goes toe-to-toe with them and knocks him out. If he’s going up against a technical whirlwind, he [can outpoint them].

Now we get to see one of the most highly-anticipated rematches in ONE history. How will Petchmorakot Petchyindee Academy shut down the style of Petrosyan? How will Giorgio Petrosyan deal with the clinch of Petchmorakot Petchyindee Academy? This is a fascinating match-up.

Rich “Ace” Franklin – ONE VP

The first bout between Petrosyan and Petchmorakot Petchyindee Academy was a very, very close match. I thought that Petrosyan won the first round pretty much hands-down. Not a landslide win, but I thought that the round belonged to him.

This is one of the biggest kickboxing rematches in the history of the sport, and both of these guys are not going to want to leave anything on the line. They’re not going to want to leave any guesswork to the judges this time, and I would imagine both these guys would come out with guns blazing.

It’s all going to come down to prep, and they’re going to look at their game plans. I think when you when you look at a guy like Petchmorakot, he’s not going to be able to avoid using a tool as devastating as his knee, but I think that Petrosyan’s going to have to come out and make some adjustments to this, obviously because that was the deciding factor [the last time].

I look at [Petchmorakot’s] game plan being somewhat the same, but I don’t think he’s just going to stick to that knee. I think what he’s going to do is use his bread-and-butter, and then add some other tools to throw something in that Petrosyan’s not really seen to surprise him.

I think Petrosyan is going to come in with a completely different game plan to circumvent the knees. When I think about the first match, Petrosyan came out very strong in the first round, and Petchmorakot had to make some adjustments for rounds two and three. That’s why those rounds were a bit more of a toss-up.

In the first match Petrosyan wins the first round pretty much hands-down, so Petchmorakot had to go back to his corner, reassess what he was doing, and make some adjustments. The fact that he had to make some adjustments in that match says that Petrosyan had a better look at all his tools, in-depth – moreso than Petchmorakot was actually able to assess him.

I see another split decision with a rubber match [in the future], that’s what I’m calling for this one, [but] I thank God I’m not a gambling man.

Because Petrosyan saw a bit more of his tools, he’s actually going to make more adjustments for the second time around, but when you have an opponent like Petchmorakot, it’s not like Petrosyan’s going to bring anything to the ring that’s going to fool him, so I’m looking at this as a very, very, very close decision again. This is going to be another razor-close match, for sure.