“Was quite special” - Dante Leon glad to make his ONE Championship debut in martial arts-centric city of Bangkok

ONE newcomer Dante Leon's winning performance last week was made more special as he was able to achieve it in place where martial arts is widely celebrated and where he always dreamt of competing in.

The BJJ standout shared this following his impressive submission victory in his maiden ONE Championship outing at ONE Fight Night 26: Lee vs. Rasulov on Dec. 6 at the famed Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand. He defeated veteran campaigner Bruno Pucci by way of submission (triangle armbar) in their featured lightweight submission grappling showdown.

Dante Leon said in the post-fight interview:

"My first fight week was awesome. Honestly, my first fight week was quite special. I've never been to this region in the world, let alone Bangkok. And growing up as a fight fan, my whole life, this has been a region of the world that I've always wanted to travel to. So to be able to compete in the most iconic stadium, and to be able to compete in a place where fighting is, combat, martial arts is so involved in the culture, is really special."

At ONE Fight Night 26, Dante Leon made a short clinical work of Pucci, never allowing the latter to really get his game going by showing his top-notch grappling skills right at the onset. He presented varying looks to his opponent, culminating in a nifty triangle armbar to force a tap out just a little over two minutes into their 10-minute joust.

His performance was one of three rewarded with a $50,000 performance bonus by ONE Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong. The two others going to Muay Thai star Thongpoon PK Saenchai and new ONE submission grappler Cole Abate.

The full replay of ONE Fight Night 26 is available on demand to Prime Video subscribers in the United States and Canada.

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Dante Leon excited to test his skills against the best grapplers in ONE Championship

Apart from competing in an environment where martial arts is largely celebrated, Dante Leon is also excited to compete in ONE Championship as he believes it is home to the best fighters in his lane of submission grappling.

He made this known in an interview with the promotion following his impressive debut win at ONE Fight Night 26 on Dec. 6, saying:

"This is the place where the best grapplers are. It's plain and simple. If you consider yourself to be the best grappler, or you want to be the best grappler, or you're striving to be the best grappler, this should be the place that you're trying to come to."

Now with ONE Championship, Leon is in the company of fellow BJJ world champions and top grapplers Kade and Tye Ruotolo, Gabriel Souza, Jozef Chen, Mayssa Bastos, Fracisco Lo, Izaak Michell, Osamah Almarwai, Cole Abate and Tommy Langaker, among others.