"His other weapons, I don't think they are scary" - Aliff showing no concern for anything other than Walter Goncalves' boxing
Aliff is in search of back-to-back wins when he returns to action at one of the biggest events of the year.
The 20-year-old rising star lost his way for a moment but is back on track following his last devastating performance.
After coming up short against Zhang Peimian and losing a very closely contested fight with Ellis Barboza via split decision, Aliff needed to bounce back. He did just that with his first-round knockout win against Zakaria El Jamari at ONE Fight Night 24 in August to put the Barboza defeat behind him.
At ONE 169 on Nov. 8, he returns to the strawweight Muay Thai division to welcome former battle-tested Walter Goncalves to the ranks.
The Brazilian is best known for the power that he possesses in his hands, but that isn't a major concern for the Sor Dechapan athlete.
In an interview with ONE Championship, he said that although Goncalves packs a punch, he's used to fighting opponents like this and isn't too worried about the other weapons in the Brazilian's arsenal:
"His punches are his most dangerous weapon. In fact, all my opponents in ONE are punchers. As for his other weapons, I don't think they are scary."
Aliff will look to keep the fight where he wants it
As Aliff correctly identified, Walter Goncalves always has the most success when it comes to landing his power punches.
Considering the height difference between them even with the Brazilian moving down a weight class, keeping the fight at range is sure to be key for the Malaysian-Thai competitor.
The Malaysian-Thai youngster has already got the experience with dealing with power-punchers which should allow him to utilize his full array of weapons in this fight.
Goncalves will try to close the gap but making it dangerous for him to do so may be where this fight is won or lost on Nov. 8.