Singapore: After years of rivalry, Aung La "The Burmese Python" N Sang is looking forward to his trilogy match with Vitaly Bigdash at One: Full Circle at the Singapore Indoor Stadium tomorrow.
Both competitors have one win apiece, and this fight will determine which man will break the tie and possible challenge for the One middleweight world title. "Every fight is very important," Aung La N Sang said.
"Every win is very important. This fight is very important. It's very, very important to me. I want to put a stamp on this trilogy match, and I want him to never, never, never, never, ever want to fight me again."
Aung La N Sang and Bigdash first fought in 2017 with Bigdash prevailing and becoming the One middleweight world champion.
The victory was fleeting, as a few months later, "The Burmese Python" defeated Bigdash and made history by becoming the first world champion from Myanmar.
After five years, both men are very different athletes with the same goal -- to climb their way back to a One middleweight world championship title.
Russian Bigdash has finished his last two fights with submissions against experienced opponents.
Aung La N Sang, on the other hand, went on to win the One light heavyweight world title as well, but eventually lost both belts to Dutchman Reinier "The Dutch Knight" de Ridder.
"The Burmese Python" believes both he and his opponent have grown significantly since their initial bout five years ago. "I don't think we're the same fighters anymore," he said.
"You go into a fight working on all your skill sets, and you plan the best for the guy you're going to fight.
"I approached this as a brand new fight. It's not like we fought a few months ago. It's been five years. But we did go 10 rounds, so I know what his strong suit is. I know what his skill set is. But he's still going to develop as a fighter, and I'm still going to develop as a fighter.
"You're going to see a better version than what you saw in the first two showings."
Watch One: Full Circle live on AIS Play from 5pm tomorrow while Thairath TV32 will air a same-day delay at 10.40pm.