Vid fredagens ONE Championship event blev den tidigare UFC-fightern Sage Northcutt brutalt knockad varefter han sedan behövde opereras i 9 timmar för 8(!) olika frakturer i ansiktet. Dock var det en detalj i alla nyhetsrubriker som fick ONE Championship och inte minst organisationens nya vice-president Miesha Tate, den tidigare UFC mästarinnan, att höja på ögonbrynen.
En av rubrikerna löd ”Poor Sage Northcutt gets knocked out 30 seconds into minor league MMA debut”. Nu väljer Tate att besvara beskvrivningen från Deadspin.com om att ONE C , där svenske Zebaztian Kadestam är mästare, skulle vara en liten organisation. Hon hade följande att säga i SiriusXM:
Definitely not minor league. It is just not very well known yet in the states but I think that’s changing. To say ‘minor league,’ I mean do we have to draw the comparisons? Right now, ONE Championship is 3-1 in our favor if you want to talk about athletes trading.
Tate valde att belysa faktumet att den tidigare UFC-mästaren och toppnamnet Eddie Alvarez förlorade sin första match i ONE Championship, att den mest dominante flugviktaren någonsin Demetrious Johnson hade en tuff första rond i sin debut, och att den tidigare ONE-mästaren Ben Askren redan vunnit sin tuffa UFC-debut och nu är rankad top-5:
Look, everybody knows the UFC is the brand to compete with right now. Especially in the Western market, not so much Asia. We have four athletes so far that have either come from the UFC or went to the UFC, one of which (Ben Askren) went over and won controversially. We have Eddie Alvarez and Sage losing and then Demetrious [Johnson]. Okay, Demetrious Johnson has been the most dominant and pound-for-pound world champion in UFC history. He barely lost to an Olympic gold medalist. Asked to be released – went over to ONE Championship and had an extremely close first round in his debut and then he got the submission in the second round. But he is one of the best to ever to do it.
Miesha Tate valde även att berömma organisationens fighters rent generellt:
If you want to talk about minor league, the athletes there are far from minor league. We have 130 world champions on our roster, they are badass. I don’t know what else to say. Watch it. If you think it is minor league, if you want to be entertained, watch ONE Championship. We have a 70 percent finish rate. 40 percent is average here in the Western market. So just tune in. Your mind will be changed very quickly.
Svenske Zebaztian Kadestam är mästare i weltervikt och har redan försvarat bältet en gång mot
