Dmitry Menshikov Slumps Opponent is his last fight in ONE Championship

ONE Lightweight Muay Thai fighter, Dmitry Menshikov, scored a brutal knockout victory over Tengnueng. At ONE Friday Fight 97. In a thrilling 1 round bout that would show fantastic back-forth action in a clash between the punch-heavy Muay Mat style in Meshikov and the powerful Muay Tae kicking style shown off by Tengnueng.

Tengnueng is a Thai fighter much larger than the average Thai national. He is 5’11 “and fights as low as 153 Lbs (light-middleweight) to all the way to cruiserweight in Muay Thai. He has had incredible success, having made his name in Thailand’s biggest Kard Chuek Promotion, THAI FIGHT. There, he has won titles in 3 separate divisions and has not lost a fight since 2018—until now.

Despite initially struggling with Tengueng’s inside low kicks, at the end of the round, Dmitry Menshikov found his range and beautifully strung together combinations that were landing at will on the Thai. He used his range in a Sergei Pavlovich-esque manner. He rocked Tengnueng before finishing him with a brutal uppercut left hook combination that left Tengnueng slumped unconscious in the corner right as the bell rang to signify the end of the round for a truly violent and dramatic knockout for the Russian.

Dmitry Menshikov will leave on his own terms.

This was Dmitry Meshikov’s final fight in ONE Championship as he served the company legal papers that they were breaching their contract by not allowing him to stay active in the promotion. Dmitry Menshikov was very vocal in his criticisms of the company, with one especially sticking out. He claimed that fighters that he had defeated were being booked to fight faster than he was. This is a horrible look for the company, especially when they are already accused of favoritism for certain fighters over others.

On top of that, Tengnueng was a very risky fight for Dmitry Menshikov as he was undefeated and known to do well against larger fighters. So this fight was a truly high-risk, low-reward fight for Dimitry Menshikov, as even though he defeated Tengnueng in spectacular fashion, he wasn’t awarded a bonus. This detail was very much noticed by fans on social media, with many accusing them of using a tactic that is allegedly employed by the UFC.

When a fighter in their last fight is given a very difficult matchup in the attempt, the fighter leaves with a loss and can now be derived by the promoter as not being on the promotion’s level. For example, the UFC infamously tried to book Nate Diaz, a natural lightweight, against Khamzat Chimaev, a natural middleweight, for his final fight in the promotion.

As for Dmitry Menshikov, may he find success wherever he can. For the fans, it is a great shame that the biggest Muay Thai promotion in the world lost another fighter from their lightweight division. With so few lightweight fighters, ONE has stopped ranking fighters in that division altogether.

As fans we can only hope and demand that the promotion will have friendlier relationships with its fighters, as well want as fans if for the best to fight the best under one umbrella.