Australian grappling standout Izaak Michell says ONE Championship would hit the ground running in his homeland
Australian grappling standout Izaak Michell believes that ONE Championship will have a ready market when it decides to hold live on-ground events in "The Land Down Under."
Speaking from his experience conversing with fight fans in his homeland, the 25-year-old Brazilian jiu-jitsu star said he has grown convinced that ONE and its brand of world-class martial arts action will be warmly received back home.
Currently the No. 2-ranked grappler in the world in the men's 185-pound category, as per Flograppling's official no-gi rankings, Izaak Michell shared to ONE Championship in an interview:
"I do. I think, you know, just after the promotion of the match, a lot of people have been coming up to me off the streets and a lot people watch ONE. I definitely do think there's a big market for it . So, I've been receiving a lot of comments just off the streets and, you know, talking to people. I think Australia loves to watch ONE Championship."
Izaak Michell will be making his ONE debut on April 5 at ONE Fight Night 21: Eersel vs. Nicolas in Bangkok, Thailand.
He will challenge for the ONE welterweight submission grappling world title against reigning champion and world No. 1-ranked grappler Tye Ruotolo.
He will be the latest addition to a growing list of Australian fighters in ONE Championship, which includes former two-division MMA world champion Martin Nguyen, Danial Williams, Alex Roberts, Duke Didier, Diandra Martin, and Reece McLaren.
ONE Fight Night 21 will take place at the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium and air live in U.S. primetime on April 5. It will be free to viewers in the United States and Canada with an active Prime Video subscription.
Izaak Michell believes he can cut short Tye Ruotolo's reign as welterweight submission grappling champion
ONE Championship-debuting Izaak Michell is confident he has the skills that can can foil ONE welterweight submission grappling world champion Tye Ruotolo and end the latter's reign.
The Adelaide, South Australia native will challenge for the welterweight grappling strap at ONE Fight Night 21: Eersel vs. Nicolas on April 5 in Bangkok, Thailand.
While he recognizes that he is up against a formidable opponent in Ruotolo, Michell said he has what it takes to come up with a win.
He told ONE in an interview:
"I think the general fans and everyone, they just get what the media feeds them and so on. But the other guys, you know, they can recognize someone's potential when they're coming up and before they even reach that peak of sorts in the sport. So yeah, I think it's just that I'm capable enough to win, and God willing, that will happen."
Ruotolo will be making his first title defense at ONE Fight Night 21 after becoming world champion in November with a unanimous decision victory over Russian Magomed Abdulkadirov. It also stretched his undefeated run in the promotion to five straight.
Izaak Michell, meanwhile, is out to make a huge impression in his maiden ONE Championship outing by becoming a world champion.