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No. 5 ranked flyweight Reece McLaren is fresh off his victory at ONE 162—inching him closer to a title shot. The division's king, Demetrious Johnson, believes the ONE veteran is nearing a world title fight.
'Mighty Mouse' recently spoke with ONE Championship about the state of the flyweight division. In the interview, he detailed his thoughts on McLaren:
“Reece McLaren, he’s right there. He’s a great athlete. He was in the ONE Flyweight World Grand Prix and came up short against [current #2 contender] Kairat Akhmetov. Yeah, his striking was good, man.”
McLaren recently defeated Windson Ramos via TKO (round 2) at ONE 162. The 31-year-old put his striking arsenal on full display in his 14th ONE appearance.
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The man known as 'Lightning' finished seven of his nine ONE bouts—four of which came in the very first round. Contenders within the division are being put on notice, including 'Mighty Mouse'.
Reece McLaren continues to improve his striking
A Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, McLaren is well known for his grappling prowess. However, he has recently displayed a much-improved striking game. In the same interview with ONE, 'Mighty Mouse' commented on the notion:
“I mean, I think if you spend enough time doing something, and working with John Wayne Parr, who has been a legend of striking, you’re only going to get better, right? He looked great.”
McLaren is close to receiving his second ONE title shot. The first came at bantamweight in 2016 when he came up just short against then-champion Bibiano Fernandes.
The former Eternal MMA and XFC champion called out the No. 4 ranked flyweight, Danny Kingad, following his recent win. The pair have matched up once before, in 2019 at ONE: Dawn of Heroes, where Kingad won via split-decision.
'Lightning' has already fought contenders Yuya Wakamatsu and Kairat Akhmetov as well—McLaren lost both bouts by way of unanimous decision. In fact, the highly-talented athlete has only ever been finished once as a pro.
Be on the lookout for an announcement regarding Reece McLaren's next fight, as it's sure to be against a top five foe.
Check out Reece McLaren's ONE 162 victory over Windson Ramos below:
