Photo via ONE Championship PR
ONE Figurehead talks Buchecha’s MMA debut and pro wrestlers fighting
Buchecha’s MMA debut is a hot topic coming out of ONE: Revolution on September 24th.
I spoke with promotional figurehead Chatri Sityodtong after the event about that. As well as if ONE Championship has been negotiating with any name-value pro wrestlers for MMA bouts.
The excerpts from our interaction is below.
ONE heavyweight champion Arjan Bhullar’s callouts of pro wrestlers and if some dialogue has been had with wrestlers about a foray into the ONE Circle
“Yeah, again like we’re talking to athletes from all backgrounds, all the time. And so yes, there have been some pro wrestlers that have expressed interest. So we’re always constantly in dialogue with rising stars, established stars from all martial arts backgrounds. So yeah, we have been in discussion but nothing of note right now.”
Buchecha’s MMA debut
Buchecha’s grounded knees went AIRBORNE! ✈️ @MarcusBuchecha #ONERevolution #WeAreONE #ONEChampionship pic.twitter.com/4hebCAvgNa
— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) September 24, 2021
Buchecha’s MMA debut giving me flashbacks to Coleman vs Vovchanchyn and Sityotodong’s thoughts on the depth of world championship talent ONE has across multiple martial arts disciplines
“You know, so here’s the thing right. If you look at our roster we have world champions across the platform. I mean, it’s just crazy how many world champions we have from different disciplines from around the world. Who are either doing mixed martial arts or Kickboxing, Muay Thai, et cetera. We have the GOAT Gordon Ryan in submission grappling. He is making progress for a comeback in terms of his submission grappling career. I heard he’s fighting Andre Galvao at ADCC, I believe next year. Buchecha is obviously the greatest Jiu-Jitsu stylist. Him or Roger Gracie people say, right.”
“But you look at the Muay Thai guys, you look at the kickboxing guys, you look at the mixed martial arts guys. DJ, you know, the GOAT. You look at kickboxing (Giorgio) Petrosyan, the GOAT. Out of our like 600 athletes, I want to say half, around half or so are legit world champions in their individual disciplines. And that’s what’s so crazy about our roster. No other roster in the world of any organization has the depth and collection of world titles from other organizations or single disciplines than ONE. I mean, you just don’t have that level of expertise. That’s why I kind of laugh when you see the Western organizations.”
ONE: Revolution
Chatri Sityodtong continued, “They say we have the best strikers in the world, blah blah blah. You know, it’s not true, it’s just not true. You want to look at elite striking, you look at a ONE Muay Thai match or ONE kick boxing. That is truly the best in the world. I’m speaking as a lifelong martial artist. Again, I have 37 years of Muay Thai as a student, competitor, teacher, coach, whatever, and now a CEO. I have about 16 years of jiu-jitsu. 10 years of no GI, and six years of Gi. And I’m speaking objectively as a lifelong martial artist. You look at the caliber.”
“Yeah, so just watching Buchecha in action was amazing. When Buchecha was competing BJJ, he’s a heavyweight that moves like a featherweight. His balance, his explosiveness, he’s so light on his feet. His weight distribution. He has the X Factor in jiu-jitsu. A lot of heavyweights in jiu-jitsu don’t have that, or even in striking for that matter. Very few heavyweights are super light on their feet with great balance and explosiveness the way Buchecha is. So yeah, Buchecha has a massive future.”
