Ahead of his sophomore outing in ONE Championship against Elias Mahmoudi in flyweight muay Thai action at “ONE Fight Night 13: Allazov vs. Grigorian” this Friday, August 4, Edgar Tabares has been reflecting on his promotional debut.
The Mexican striker put on a gallant display against Rodtang Jitmuangnon when he featured at ONE’s historic debut event in North America, ONE Fight Night 10, in May.
Despite dropping a second-round knockout loss to the flyweight muay Thai king, Tabares was greeted with open arms from the sold-out crowd audience in Denver – though one fan was a little overzealous during his entrance.
“Yeah absolutely. They were very friendly. They were very humble with me. There were a lot of Mexicans. I felt like I was in Mexico, but with some differences. The crowd was amazing with me, and I was grateful for them,” he said.
“When I was walking out, giving high fives to people, I felt that someone was holding the flag (I had) and tried to steal it. At this moment, I fought (laughs]. That was my first fight from the night.”
Tabares plans to score his first win in ONE against returning star Mahmoudi this Friday, and he wants to do it in style.
With a potential $50,000 performance bonus up for grabs, the 29-year-old sees an opportunity to use his new-found global platform and financial benefits that come with it to pave the way for more of his countrymen to step up to the global stage.
“Everyone is looking for that bonus. Honestly, I want that bonus because I have a lot of things to do here in Mexico. Not just with my family but with all Mexican fighters,” Tabares said.
“I’m starting a new project. I want to support Mexican fighters for them to fight in other countries. Here, we cannot pay for our flights. They are very expensive. So I want to do something for these new fighters. I know that Elias is hungry too, but we have a dream, and we are not going to abandon it so easily.”
ONE Fight Night 13 will be broadcast live and free on Prime Video for fans across North America with an Amazon subscription.
