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ONE Championship heavyweight and former police officer Odie 'The Witness' Delaney is perhaps one of the most genuine human beings on the planet. While most fighters cite glory, money, or a better life as their main motivations for fighting in the ring, Delaney has different reasons.
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After his marvelous win at ONE: Bad Blood a few months ago, 'The Witness' took the mic and explained why he does what he does:
"I'm not really in this for the glory or the money. I wanna help people. I've been in some really dark places in my life. I've been on the edge of suicide and I wanna bring, and shed some light on that stuff to maybe save some lives."
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The mark of a true warrior is his sense of compassion and empathy in the midst of chaos and dread. Delaney is a throwback to the honorable warriors of old who fight not for glory or fame but for the spirit that compels them to save and protect lives at all costs.
In a world struck by hate, apathy, and loneliness, we need more fighters like Delaney advocating kindness, compassion and love.
Watch Delaney's incredible life story in this short video by ONE Championship:
ONE Championship heavyweight Odie Delaney returns to the cage at ONE 158
Today in the lead card of ONE 158, Odie Delaney will bring his advocacy back inside the cage as he faces Indian powerhouse Medhi Barghi. Beyond his good guy persona outside the ring, Delaney is no joke on the ground. The former police officer employs a heavy top game that's difficult to shake off.
In his most recent performance in the ONE circle, Delaney introduced the "Odie Lock", a modified hammerlock submission that's extremely excruciating to watch.
He applied it on Thomas Narmo and it made us tap just by looking at it. The pin and the lock itself looks heavily inspired by Delaney's time in law enforcement. Once applied in the ring with ground strikes, the hold can be devastating.
Now that he is facing Medhi Barghi, a power puncher with strong wrestling, Delaney will have a new problem to solve. Wrestlers are strong and tenacious athletes who tend to blitz in with power moves to steamroll their opponents.
With Delaney's main martial art being jiu-jitsu, he has the tools to nullify Barghi's wrestling with technique and leverage. We can't wait to see it.
