ONE Championship: Ekaterina Vandaryeva ignores the hype and four straight losses to overcome Martyna Kierczynska
- Heading into ONE Fight Night 20, Vandaryeva had not fought for a year while Polish newcomer Kierczynska was tipped as a future title contender
- A second-round knockdown swayed the result in favour of the Belarusian mother-of-two, who was ‘happy to win on International Women’s Day’
There was a lot of hype surrounding Martyna Kierczynska heading into ONE Fight Night 20. One person who did not believe it was her opponent, Ekaterina Vandaryeva, who score a surprise win over the Polish newcomer.
Vandaryeva had not fought for a year after coming off four straight losses. Meanwhile, Kierczynska burst onto the scene by beating Wondergirl Jaroonsakgym at ONE Fight Night 19 last month.
The Polish fighter was expected to show why she was being tipped as a future title contender in the strawweight division. Vandaryeva had other ideas and to her, the hype never mattered on Saturday.
“There was a lot of hype around Martyna before the fight but at the same time, we can’t forget that this is martial arts,” Vandaryeva said.
“The hype doesn’t really matter, the fight matters because fights can go in a random direction. They can go in any direction and sometimes when you [are up against] a fighter that’s not the strongest but has an awkward style, it can be hard to fight against.”
