Speak of discontent among the many fighter ranks in ONE Championship continues to rise, and one other athlete has now gone public together with his complaints.
Dmitry Menshikov has competed below the ONE Championship banner since June 2023. Following victories in organizations comparable to Glory, the Russian debuted within the Asian promotion at ONE Struggle Night time 11 in Bangkok, Thailand.
He arrived straight right into a title shot, difficult the light-weight Muay Thai rule of Regian Eersel. Menshikov’s first style of ONE motion was fast, with “The Immortal” touchdown a knockout blow in simply 46 seconds.
Since then, the 27-year-old has gained three straight, most just lately stopping fellow former title challenger Sinsamut Klinmee at ONE Struggle Night time 22 final April. Although he’s been away from the ring for 10 months, that’s seemingly not with out making an attempt.
A press launch by way of Menshikov and his supervisor this week revealed main frustration at his layoff. They declare that quite a few requests to combat had been ignored and met with silence by the ONE Championship matchmakers.
The Russian is now approaching his return at ONE Friday Fights 97 later this month, however that reserving would seem to have come too little, too late. The 27-year-old has served the group with authorized papers citing an alleged failure to fulfil contractual obligations and outlined his plan to enter free company following his upcoming bout.
“I had some nice fights with ONE, however a single bout per 12 months just isn’t a sustainable calendar for a aggressive athlete and is a transparent breach of the understanding between the fighter and the group once we entered right into a promotional contract,” Menshikov mentioned. “Because of this, I shall be getting into free company after the upcoming February 14th bout.
“I discover it unusual that every one my wins are by KO or TKO, but ONE selected to rebook the fighters I KO’d relatively than myself. Possibly they had been cheaper, I don’t know. It’s arduous to know something that’s occurring at ONE – our makes an attempt all through 2024 to succeed in the matchmakers had been met by deafening silence,” Menshikov continued. “A number of fighters have left just lately due to being annoyed, like Sage Northcutt and Reinier de Ridder, and I feel that’s one of the best resolution for me as nicely. My contract solely has a number of months left on it anyway. At this level it’s in all probability simpler for us all to go our separate methods.”
The precise particulars of Menshikov’s ONE Championship contract and any potential breaches are unknown, however the kickboxing and Muay Thai fighter’s supervisor is seemingly assured concerning the declare.
“Clearly for those who signal a fighter to an unique contract, the intention just isn’t for him to compete simply annually,” Andrey Busygin mentioned. “We struggled all 12 months to get clear solutions from ONE’s matchmakers. Actually more often than not we couldn’t get a solution in any respect.
“When 2024 ended with only a single bout, our authorized group decided that ONE Championship had did not carry out its duties below the contract and knowledgeable ONE accordingly. Now we have taken this short-notice ONE bout on February 14th as a result of Menshikov wants a combat, however after that he shall be getting into free company and returning to a full aggressive schedule.”
Menshikov marks the newest fighter to specific displeasure on the present state of affairs in ONE, which has largely centered round a perceived abandonment of combined martial arts as a spotlight.
Each Reinier de Ridder and Sage Northcutt departed in 2024, with the previous becoming a member of the UFC and the latter briefly signing with the PFL earlier than getting into the inaugural GFL draft final month.
Extra just lately, flyweight MMA fighter Reece McLaren publicly requested his launch in an open letter to ONE Championship on social media. Like Menshikov, the Australian cited an alleged “ghosting” from the matchmaking group concerning his need to combat.
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