Compton added to star-studded card

PICTURED: ELLIOTT COMPTON (CREDIT: MATT PALMER, ART OF ACTION)

Announced on Thursday, Queensland muay thai fighter Elliot ‘The Dragon’ Compton has signed a multi-fight deal with ONE Championship and will be making his debut on April 20th in Manila on the ONE Super Series portion of the ‘Heroes of Honor’ card.

The deal includes both muay thai and mma and will see him compete against Brazillian muay thai superstar Cosmo Alexandre in his debut bout for the promotion. Speaking to Fight News Australia following the announcement, Compton said he was excited and ready for the challenge ahead.

“For me, this is huge. It means everything to me and I’m ready to get stuck in and make the most of every opportunity. I’ve been a huge fan of ONE for a long time and have been following the success of other Australian fighters like Adrian Pang, Martin Nguyen and Reece McLaren. To be part of the super fight series and to be sharing the card with some of the greatest fighters around is an honour for me”.

His opponent is one of many high-level kickboxing and muay thai stars that have been signed by ONE for their new foray into stand-up fighting. A former World Muay Thai Council (WMC) Intercontinental Champion and Lion Fight Super-Middleweight Champion, Alexandre presents perhaps one of the toughest tests of Compton’s fight career. At the age of 35 and with 67 fights to his name, Alexandre has fought some of the biggest names in muay thai including Yodsanklai, Giorgio Petrosyan, Naruepol and Dzhabar Askerov.

“Fighting Cosmo will be amazing. He’s a guy that I watched when I was climbing up and to be in the same league fighting him is incredible for me. I’ve fought a few guys now that I’ve always looked up to – I’m a martial artist, I love fighting against the best”.

Training for this fight with a renewed focus after having been out of the ring since June last year, Compton has included Australian muay thai legend ‘John’ Wayne Parr into his list of sparring partners. Given Parr has fought Alexandre twice before, the experience should be invaluable to Compton as he prepares for April 20th.

“Training has been great! I’ve implemented some big changes in my camp and I feel incredible. I’ve been working hard at Team Compton with my father and the boys, as well as hitting new heights in my strength and conditioning at TTC Strength. I’ve continued sparring with Wayne (Parr) and also brought in some different sparring partners. Above all of that, mentally I’m on a whole new level. I feel the sharpest, smoothest and most positive I ever have”.

ONE: Heroes of Honor will take place at the Mall of Asia Arena in Manila, Philippines, and will be headlined by hometown favourite Kevin “The Silencer” Belingon as he faces Andrew Leone from the United States. The headline Super Series fight will be between global kickboxing star Giorgio Petrosyan and former Lion Fight Champion Jo Nattawut. Also featuring on the card will be Adrian Pang and Brad Riddell.

Fight Card (MMA):

• Kevin Belingon vs. Andrew Leone
• Honorio Banario vs. Adrian Pang (Australia/PNG)
• Marat Gafurov vs. Emilio Urrutia
• Gina Iniong vs. Jenny Huang
• Masakuza Imanari vs. Kevin Chung
• Adrian Matheis vs. Lan Ming Qiang

Fight Card (One Super Series):

• Giorgio Petrosyan vs. Jo Nattawut
• Nong-O Gaiyanghadao vs. Fabio Pinca
• Elliott Compton (Australia) vs. Cosmo Alexandre
• Brad Riddell (New Zealand) vs. Regian Eersel