"I believe the best flyweights are in ONE" - Reece McLaren on the level of competition in his division

Reece McLaren believes he belongs to one of the deepest divisions in MMA, and ONE Championship arguably has the best roster in the world today.

In an interview with Sportskeeda MMA, McLaren shared that from a competitive standpoint, ONE Championship’s flyweight division is the place to be for top-level competition in the division.

Reece McLaren said:

“I’ve said it for a long time, I believe that the best flyweights are in ONE. And with DJ [Demetrious Johnson] there, you can’t even argue that it’s not... Looking at it all, this is where you want to be.”

The top three fighters in the division are among the elite of the elite, which illustrates McLaren’s point.

The division is ruled by Adriano Moraes, the seven-time ONE flyweight world champion who is on a three-bout win streak. Meanwhile, the top-ranked contender in the division is Demetrious Johnson, who McLaren believes is the GOAT of the sport. Finally, former world champion Kairat Akhmetov is ranked as the No.2 fighter in the weight class.

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Reece McLaren hails ONE Championship’s ranking system

Reece McLaren will be back in action at ONE 158, where he takes on China’s Xie Wei on the event's main card.

Considering the wealth of talent in the division, McLaren believes that having a ranking system helps motivate fighters and keep them on their toes.

In an interview, he told ONE Championship:

“I think the ranking systems are awesome. That they put a good target on your back. And it's a nice bit of, like, 'I'm appreciated,' you know what I mean? So yeah, man, these younger guys coming through.”

McLaren may be risking more as the No.4-ranked fighter when he takes on the unranked Xie Wei in his next outing. However, a win could propel him to a matchup against one of the top fighters in the division.

As such, he expressed his excitement in testing his skills against an up-and-coming talent like Xie.

“What is he on, a three-fight win streak? He's definitely surging. I'm excited about the matchup. It's been a long time coming. I can't wait, man,” he said.