“I think that this is the opportunity for me to fight the best in the world” - Stephen Loman is pumped for his ONE Championship debut

Stephen Loman is ready to make a splash in his promotional debut on Friday. The former Brave CF champion is Team Lakay's newest ONE Championship entrant.

Stephen Loman of the Philippines is set to enter the Circle opposite No.3-ranked bantamweight contender Yusup ‘Maestro’ Saadulaev of Russia at ONE: Winter Warriors II. The event is a previously recorded card from the Singapore Indoor Stadium, which airs on December 17.

Speaking to ONE Championship in a recent interview, Stephen Loman talked about how dangerous of a fighter Saadulaev is and what this fight means for his career.

“[It’s] surprising because they’re giving me these contenders, that’s very surprising for me. I think that this is the opportunity for me to fight the best in the world. This is very important for me to showcase my skill and to show also what I’ve been preparing for. I will just do my best and stay focused on the fight with Yusup because he’s a very good fighter.

“I think I [can] match him on the ground doing my offense and my defense, I got some learnings also from the grounds, my experience. Yusup is a very good one, [he has] a very good strong wrestling also.”

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Stephen Loman’s time to shine is now

Team Lakay has been one of the most prolific martial arts teams in Asia for years.

They’ve had multiple world champions in their stable, including former ONE lightweight world champion Eduard Folayang, former ONE bantamweight world champion Kevin Belingon, former ONE flyweight world champion Geje Eustaquio, former ONE featherweight world champion Honorio Banario and many more.

Now, despite having last seen action in November 2019, Stephen Loman is excited to follow in their footsteps to greatness.

“Two years, that’s very long [to be away]. I just focus on my training, improving for those years. All I want to show is, the fans will expect a good fight from me. They will see me, they will see my movements in the fight, I will do my best in the fight. They will expect a good one from me.

“I’m very excited because finally, I got to fight. My fight was supposed to be in April but due to COVID reasons, that fight wasn’t for me. But now I have scheduled a fight and I’m very excited.”