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While every martial artist will walk a different path in their career, many come across similar experiences that lead them to the top and that’s no different for Alex Roberts.
Ahead of his ONE Championship debut, the heavyweight striker told the story of how his journey in Muay Thai first got started.
Having been inspired by the martial arts movies of the time, Roberts hoped to find his nearest gym so he could train similarly to the likes of Jean-Claude Van Damme.
While his parents were against it initially he finally found his way onto the mats but wasn’t taken at first by the boxing that he was watching.
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Alex Roberts explained in an interview with ONE Championship about the moment he first saw Muay Thai in the flesh and has never looked back since:
“I went into the boxing class first before the Muay Thai, and there were ten-punch combos going on. Then I looked over to the other side and saw Blair Smith and the boys just going hard with the kick, knee, elbow. It was a bit more brutal and a little bit more simple, and I thought, ‘That style is the one for me.’”
Alex Roberts now finds himself in the plot of one of the martial arts movies he was inspired by growing up
ONE Championship debuts don’t get much bigger, literally, than the one that Alex Roberts has on his hands at ONE Fight Night 17.
On December 8 at the iconic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, he will compete for the inaugural ONE heavyweight Muay Thai world championship.
Standing in his way of achieving a storybook-like ascension to the top is light heavyweight world champion Roman Kryklia who is yet to taste defeat inside the Circle.
Should he be able to enter the promotion, win a world championship, and take out the top dog in the process, there’s no doubt that ‘The Viking’ will be on the shortlist for the most impressive debuts the promotion has ever seen.
ONE Fight Night 17 will air live and free in U.S. prime time for North American viewers with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription.
