Leandro Issa happy to back in ONE

Leandro Issa fought for the inaugural ONE bantamweight championship back in 2012, and then won one in April of 2013 vs. Yusup Saadulaev. Next, he signed with the UFC, and had an excellent first year – in 2014 Issa had three fights, going 2-1, and picking up a Fight of the Night and a Performance of the Night. However, he had just one fight in 2015 and one fight in 2016, losing them both.

Now he is back with ONE and fights Finland’s Toni Tauru at ONE Championship 58: Kings & Conquerors, at Cotai Arena in Macau, China. In an interview with Matt Erickson and Christian Stein for MMAjunkie, Issa respectfully explained by the is glad to be back.

Fighting in the UFC was my dream, said Issa. I had a great experience there. I lost some and I won some. But in the last two years there, I wasn’t too happy. They only booked me once a year. I was training, never hurt, always asking to fight. I only had two fights in the last two years. It’s bad for a fighter’s career.

It was great to fight in the greatest promotion in the world, and to fight in Brazil and in Las Vegas, which were also dreams of mine. But now I feel happy to be back at ONE Championship.

My preparation has been great. His strong point is jiu-jitsu; so is mine. So I feel it will be a great fight. I’ve been training a lot of Muay Thai. … I’m very focused on this fight. Hopefully I can fight one more time this year. Ultimately, my goal is the championship belt, but we’re taking it one step at a time.

The event will stream in the US via OnLine PPV at ONEFC.com/livestream/.

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