FILIPINO-American Sean Climaco makes his ONE Championship debut in a Muay Thai fight against Mexican Josue Cruz on May 4, 2024 in ONE Fight Night 22 at the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.
The 29-year-old Climaco earned a $100,000 fight contract with ONE Championship after beating Malcolm Hill by fourth round knockout in the lightweight finals of the “Road to ONE” tournament in New York. Climaco totally dominated Hill, dropped him three times and finally knocked him out in the fourth with a wicked roundhouse kick to the body.
Climaco breezed through through his first two fights of the tournament, knocking out Diego Jagessar in the second and Ethan Geffen in the third round
Climaco, who trains under the tutelage of Muay Thai legend Jongsanan Fairtex, is the older brother of MMA fighter Mark Climaco, who fought in the “Road to UFC” flyweight tournament. Their parents are both from Cebu who migrated to the U.S.
Meanwhile, the 28-year-old Cruz is back in the ONE Championship ring after making his debut in the organization in 2022. He fought ONE Championship No. 5-ranked flyweight Walter Goncalves and lost by a first-round stoppage.
Climaco has a record of 10-1-1, while Cruz is 17-1.
ONE Fight Night 22 features a title defense of ONE Female strawweight champion Smilla Sundell (35-5) against challenger Natalia Diachkova (30-4). / EKA