Fil-Am Sean Climaco eyes impressive ONE Championship debut

MANILA, Philippines – Filipino-American fighter Sean Climaco is aiming to make his presence felt in his ONE Championship debut when he takes on Josue Cruz a couple of days from now. 

Climaco, who won the Road to ONE: America, and Cruz will raise the curtain in the ONE Fight Night 22: Sundell vs. Diachkova event at the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok later this week. 

The 29-year-old Muay Thai flyweight is confident on making a triumphant debut in the promotion.

“Stylistically, I don’t think he’s ever fought my style. The strikes that I throw, the style I bring is very unique and you can’t train for it,” he said.

“This is a dream come true… I didn’t think I’ll end up here a couple years ago but all of a sudden, this opportunity came and here I am ready to prove that I’m the best,” he added.

Climaco was born and raised in California, but his parents are both Filipinos. 

He landed a spot in the Road to ONE: America tournament last year, where he knocked out all three of his opponents en route to the ONE Championship contract. 

“I don’t know if it’s a Filipino thing because there’s also a lot of Filipino fighters who are into MMA, but I think I just fell in love with striking a lot,” he said. 

Climaco said that he is also “ready to represent the Filipino-Americans” in the event. 

Cruz is coming off a defeat in ONE, losing his lone bout against Walter Goncalves of Brazil in May 2022. 

ONE Fight Night 22 will be headlined by a match between Smilla Sundell and Natalia Diachkova for the ONE strawweight Muay Thai world championship. 

The co-main event is between Turkiye’s Halil Amir and Kyrgyzstan’s Akbar Abdullaev.