Five-fight UFC veteran Leandro Issa returns to ONE Championship on Friday in the Philippines, and he’ll be looking to get back in the win column.
Issa (16-7) had a three-fight winning streak for ONE after he was cut loose from the UFC on a two-fight skid in 2016. But this past October, he was knocked out in the first round by Muin Gafurov.
Friday, Issa has his sights set on Fu Chang Xin (9-1) at “ONE Championship: Roots of Honor,” which takes place at Mall of Asia Arena in Manila, Philippines. The main card streams on B/R Live following prelims on Facebook and Twitter.
Catch up with Issa ahead of the card in Manila.
Give us a quick rundown of your career.
I’ve been fighting professionally since 2006. I have a ton of submissions to my name since I come from jiu-jitsu. I’m a black belt. I had a dream to fight in the UFC. I was able to make it come true. Now I’m back to ONE Championship. It’s an organization that’s growing fast.
I’m happy to be here. They take good care of me. It’s a very big and impressive Asian promotion. I have no doubt they’ll continue growing, giving the UFC a run for their money. Since my return, I went on a three-fight win streak. But I lost my most recent bout, unfortunately. I have no excuse. My opponent just did better than me. Now I’m ready for my next battle.
What can you say about your next opponent?
I’ll be facing Changxin Fu from China next. He has a solid record – all wins and just one loss. He’s much younger. But I believe I’m quite ready for him. I’m feeling well. Of course, I always try to get the fight to ground, but I also keep working on improving my standup. I’ll put on an entertaining fight for the Filipino fans.
How was your training camp?
I’m 100 percent part of the Evolve MMA team. I’ve been there for 10 years. But this year, I decided to travel a bit. I’ve been getting ready at the Fusion X-Cel academy, in Orlando, Fla. We train with a lot of tough sparring partners under head coach Julien Williams. They’re been helping me a lot. I plan to get ready at Evolve again in the future. This time, I wanted to experience different styles.
Do you think most fans might be rooting for you since you’ve built much of your MMA career in Asia?
I believe this will be my ninth bout at ONE in Asia. I’ve been living in Singapore now for 10 years. Without a doubt, the fans from the Philippines know me well. Those fans are incredible. Some say the Philippines is Asia’s Brazil. I’m sure there will be a lot of Chinese fans there too, rooting for Changxin. To me, that doesn’t make much difference. Within the cage, the only person I see is my opponent. Nothing else matters.
Plans for the future?
After I get past this next battle, I plan to be fully focused on training. I’d like to fight at least three times this year. We’re taking it one step at a time, but the objective is always to be champion.
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