Cole Abate says ONE Championship signing allows him to unlock his ultimate dream: "One of the best Americans this sport has ever seen"

20-year-old Cole Abate isn't the kind of competitor who doesn't have an end goal in sight for his career. The young rising submission grappling star has had a lot of time to look at those around him and decide how he wants to be remembered when all is said and done.

However, one large obstacle stopped him from putting those plans into motion and that was achieving his black belt but now that he has this under wraps, the sky is the limit for him.

Abate recently signed to ONE Championship as one of the promotion's new submission grappling stars, and at ONE Fight Night 26 on Dec. 6, he will make his debut against a legend of the sport.

Competing in the lightweight division, he will take on Japanese grappling icon Shinya Aoki at Lumpinee Stadium in the first of many steps.

Speaking in a recent interview with ONE Championship, Cole Abate outlined what his goals are and why signing to ONE has put them in motion:

"I've had my goals since I've been a kid about what I wanna do once I'm a black belt. My goal is to go down as one of the best Americans this sport has ever seen, and everything that ONE is offering to me is in line with that."

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Cole Abate is here to make a statement

Cole Abate has big aspirations and if he's going to achieve them, hitting the ground running in ONE Championship might be crucial.

That being said, an experienced opponent like Aoki is not the kind of competitor that is necessarily easy to look good against.

He's already faced off with some of the best in the world during his time in ONE let alone before that.

As a competitor that has taken on the likes of Mikey Musumeci and Kade Ruotolo in the past, he will be a good measuring stick for Abate on his debut.