ONE Championship is returning to Malaysia on July 13, 2018 for “ONE: Pursuit of Power” featuring seven mixed martial arts matches and three striking bouts in ONE Super Series. The third bout of the evening is a lightweight MMA match between Ariel “Tarzan” Sexton, 36, of San Jose, Costa Rica and Kota “Genjin” Shimoishi, 31, of Osaka, Japan.
Taking place at the Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, “ONE: Pursuit of Power” marks Shimoishi’s ONE Championship debut. For Sexton, it will be his sixth bout in the promotion.
Sexton is a two-time Costa Rican Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu National Champion. He has established himself as one of the best Costa Rican MMA fighters after earning his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt under the famed Renzo Gracie.
Growing up in Costa Rica, Sexton was an extremely athletic child who first began training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in 2001. He soon fell in love with martial arts, and decided to quit his job to become a full-time professional martial artist.
Currently, Sexton holds a professional MMA record of 11 wins and 4 losses. On the other hand, Shimoishi has 21 wins and 5 losses.
Representing Shooto Gym Blows, Shimoishi is one of the top-ranked Japanese lightweight contenders today. He is known for his well-rounded striking and grappling skills.
Shimoishi is coming out of a loss to Mansour “The Afro-Samurai” Barnaoui, 25, of Paris France at “Road FC 46.” “ONE: Pursuit of Power” gives him an avenue to redeem himself and become one of the top contenders in the lightweight division of ONE Championship.
The “ONE: Pursuit of Power” main event is a welterweight bout between Agilan “Alligator” Thani, 22, and Zebaztian “The Bandit” Kadestam, 27, of Sweden. The co-main event is a ONE Super Series Muay Thai featherweight contest between “Smokin” Jo Nattawut, 28, of Thailand and Yohann Fairtex Drai, 26, of France.
The first ONE Championship event to take place in Malaysia in 2018 was “ONE: Visions of Victory.” Here is a recap:
Ticket information for ONE: PURSUIT OF POWER is available at www.onefc.com.
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CONAN Daily 