“We’re giving him more weapons here” - Alex Roberts says his parents had apprehensions on his martial arts training

Alex Roberts almost skipped out on martial arts if not for his sheer freedom as an adult.

The Australian big man revealed that his parents never wanted him to pursue martial arts because of his rambunctious attitude as a kid.

In an interview with ONE Championship, Roberts said he had a solid home life but would often get in trouble for school due to his shenanigans.

He said:

“I wanted to do it as a kid, but my parents put me into one or two classes, and they thought, ‘This is actually bad. We’re giving him more weapons here.’ Because I spent all of my time in front of the principal’s office in primary school.”

Alex Roberts added:

“So, they took me out pretty quick and just kept me in the regular sports.”

Roberts, now the WBC Muay Thai heavyweight world champion, played Australian rules Football, but his itch to throw hands and stab with knees was far too strong.

It wasn’t until he was 24 years old and a full-fledged adult that he started training Muay Thai.

From that point on, Roberts carved a dangerous path and emerged as one of the most lethal practitioners of the martial art.

He gets to put his skills to the ultimate test when he makes his ONE Championship debut in December.

Roberts will take on Ukrainian monster Roman Kryklia, the ONE light heavyweight kickboxing world champion, for the inaugural ONE heavyweight Muay Thai world title in the main event of ONE Fight Night 17.

The two giants will headline ONE Championship’s first Muay Thai card on December 8 at the historic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium. The entire show is available live and for free to all Prime Video subscribers in North America.

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Alex Roberts reveals his grand plan in ONE Championship

Alex Roberts has yet to step inside the ONE Championship ring, but he’s already planning a grand scheme for his career with the promotion.

In the same interview, ‘Viking’ said he plans to beat Kryklia for the inaugural world title and defend the belt until he settles into retirement.

He said:

“I want to go out there and win this belt, then defend it. I would love to just fight in ONE and completely clear out the division and then retire on top.”