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.”
You have to admire Vandaryeva’s honesty in admitting that she is not the strongest. It is rare for a professional fighter to be so self-deprecating but the Belarusian had plenty to be proud about after her performance last weekend.
She knocked Kierczynska down in the second round and took advantage of the type of opening she always knew her opponent would leave.
“She’s a pretty good fighter. Her team is great, she was getting ready and training well but at the same time I knew that she makes mistakes. She goes all out when she moves forward, and I knew that I could get the victory.”
Kierczynska was on track for a decision win when she suffered the knockdown. In fact, all three judges scored the first and third rounds in her favour.
With Vandaryeva having scored that second-round knockdown, the scorecards read 28-28 across the board. ONE Championship’s scoring forces the judges to pick a winner under these circumstances, with knock-downs a key criteria for deciding the outcome.
It means that one punch effectively settled the contest.
But there was no luck involved; Vandaryeva knew coming into the fight that sooner or later her opponent would make a mistake that she could capitalise on.
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“Martyna is really powerful, and she goes forward but at the same time, that’s her weakness. She has holes in her defence, and I knew if I did not scramble and kept everything technical, I was going to get the win.
“I cannot say that there was a particular moment that changed the fight or a particular key that led to my victory. I was just doing everything according to plan. I was using my skills, power, strength and technique.
The all-female card was put together in recognition of International Women’s Day, which was last Friday. For Vandaryeva, being a fighter is just one of the many roles she performs and the mother of two wanted to draw attention to all the obstacles female fighters face.
“When it comes to men, they usually just train but they don’t do anything else. When it comes to female fighters, we do so many things.
“Of course, we train and fight, but we have our families, cook food and raise our kids. I’m happy to win on International Women’s Day and I think it proves that we can do everything.”
She faced a significant obstacle last Saturday in the shape of Martyna Kierczynska. Vandaryeva overcame that, and after a long losing streak, her career prospects are looking significantly brighter this week.
