Troy Worthen wants to maintain spotless record in ONE debut

All eyes will be on the sole bantamweight mixed martial arts contest at ONE: MASTERS OF DESTINY on Friday, 12 July, as two undefeated warriors will go head-to-head in a quest to maintain their perfect record.

America’s Troy 'Pretty Boy' Worthen (4-0) makes his promotional debut against China’s 'The Ghost' Chen Rui (7-0), and with both of their unblemished records on the line, fans can expect a thriller in this main card battle.

Worthen, who comes from a grappling and wrestling background, has assessed his opponent’s abilities, but he is not too worried about what may unfold inside Kuala Lumpur’s Axiata Arena on Friday evening.

“It looks like he’s a boxer – he likes to strike, and he likes to throw a lot of power. He looks good, but I think at this level, you expect everyone to be good,” the Florida native shared.

“I’m not looking for easy fights. I’m not scared to challenge myself, so him being an undefeated young fighter is all the same to me.

“It doesn’t matter who it is. I’m going to train my hardest and try my best to get as good as I can. I focus on myself – I don’t want to focus too much on my opponents. So yeah, I’m glad he’s game, as it gives me a bigger spotlight to shine.”

Worthen recently moved to Singapore following a successful display at the first-ever Evolve Global Tryouts in November.

Thus far, "Pretty Boy" has not wasted any time adapting to his new home and he is primed to take on what looks to be his toughest test yet in his mixed martial arts career.

The time spent surrounded by several multiple-time World Champions at Evolve MMA has given the 26-year-old American a new sense of comfort.

“It’s made it a lot more streamlined, having just a constant plethora of World Champions that have different knowledge from different sports always in the same room,” he continued.

“I can look to the right, and I have a Jiu-Jitsu World Champion to answer all my questions about grappling, and I look to the left, and I have a Muay Thai World Champion that can help me with clinching and striking. It’s given me a lot more options all at the same place, which makes learning a lot easier.”

With a 4-0 slate to defend, the NCWA All-American and NCWA Southeastern Conference Champion is game to dish out his finest career performance yet in his first ONE Championship appearance.

“I’m just excited to show everybody what I can do, and show them why I deserve to be there, so expect fireworks.”