Canadian YouTuber Jeff Chan is used to showing his techniques in front of large audiences, but now he’s set to do so in front of the biggest online audience of his career.
Chan’s channel “MMA Shredded” has almost 200,000 subscribers on YouTube, as he has shared his training methods, technique tutorials and even his fight camps as part of his popular outlet. Now he’s set to showcase his skills in front of millions as part of Asia’s largest martial arts organization.
“I make tutorials online, through YouTube, Instagram and Facebook,” he explained. “I make breakdowns, I teach tutorials in muay Thai, wrestling and jiu-jitsu. I also vlog my training, so I put up all my sparring videos. I’m sure my opponents are watching everything!”
“Jackie” Chan (3-1) will open the show under unusual circumstances at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Feb. 28 when he takes on local fighter Radeem Rahman (3-2) in the first bout of the night at “ONE Championship 109: King of the Jungle.” It’s his ONE Championship debut, but while he’ll be fighting in a big arena, he won’t experience the roar of the crowd.
The coronavirus outbreak in Asia has forced ONE to run the show as a behind-closed-doors event, which means Chan’s friends and family will have to watch his debut from in front of a television, computer, tablet or phone.
It’s an unusual way to kick off his ONE career, but the Tristar-trained fighter said that the unique setting may actually play to his advantage on fight night.
“I won’t know until I actually fight, but my first thought was it’s going to be a closed-door event, so it’s kind of going to be like an ‘Ultimate Fighter’ show,” he said. “I actually think there’ll be less pressure because there won’t be people watching, and it might play to my advantage because I’m very used to being filmed when sparring or training and fighting – just a camera and not a whole crowd. So I think I’ll be used to it.”
But regardless of the lack of paying spectators in the stands, Chan said he hopes he and Rahman can serve up a fight to entertain the fans watching at home, ideally by standing toe-to-toe and throwing down in an exciting standup battle.
“I like to keep it entertaining,” he said. “I like to stand and bang, (so) I hope my opponent’s going to stand with me. If he takes it to the ground, I’m also very comfortable (there). But I like to strike.”
