Chingiz Allazov finally put a longstanding rivalry to rest this past weekend. The ONE Featherweight Kickboxing World Champion successfully defended his throne against #2-ranked divisional contender Marat Grigorian in the main event of ONE Fight Night 13 in Bangkok, Thailand, on Friday, August 4.

The striking greats needed all five rounds to settle their differences, and fans wouldn’t have had it any other way. They displayed immense grit and heart, but it was “Chinga” whose hand was raised at the end of it, and dedicated the win to a special person. “Before my grandfather died, I said, ‘One more [win], grandfather. I will bring it to you,’” Allazov said in his post-fight interview.

Chingiz Allazov overcomes his mental weakness for a victory

“This was a hard fight. [Winning] was one of the best moments of my career. For me, it was important. The belt was not important, only beating Marat Grigorian. That’s what was important for my life, my career, and my legacy.”

Allzov hadn’t met Grigorian since they faced each other twice in 2013. Their first battle ended in a no contest, and the Armenian star took a win in the second. Since then, they have, respectively, risen to prominence in the kickboxing world, making their third matchup one of the most anticipated fights of the year ahead of last Friday’s event.

The pound-for-pound striking king had been eagerly awaiting his opportunity to avenge his loss to Grigorian, but their showdown almost didn’t happen, according to “Chinga”. “My mind was weak. Because last week, I had a problem in my family. Three days before the fight, in my mind, I said, ‘Maybe I won’t fight.’ But I told myself, ‘No, Chingiz. You’re ready for this fight. Go forward. God gave you this fight.’ I told myself I will win. I said, ‘Thank you God for helping me on this day.’”

He may have been going through personal issues, but the Azerbaijani-Belarusian World Champion didn’t show any signs of it against his old foe. He was clearly on a mission from the get-go.

Chingiz Allazov doesn’t mind missing out on a knockout victory

While “Chinga” wasn’t able to claim a knockout against Grigorian, it wasn’t for lack of trying, and it certainly didn’t help that personal issues were weighing on his mind. Nonetheless, he was thankful that his game plan was enough to pull off a win on the night. 

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“The important thing was winning. I won. We won, my team. My coach [Andrei Gridin] is the best in the world, for real. We had a good game plan, but it wasn’t a game plan to KO Marat Grigorian. We planned to beat him over five rounds,” Allazov said.

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