'Everyone has their own style': Sean Climaco on his Muay Thai approach

Home > Sports > MMA

'Everyone has their own style': Sean Climaco on his Muay Thai approach

Published: 18 Aug. 2024, 14:35

Sean Climaco at ONE Fight Night 22 in May. [ONE CHAMPIONSHIP]

California native Sean “The One” Climaco is among a handful of elite fighters leading the charge for American Muay Thai on the global stage — and he’s doing it with an American style of striking.

He will soon return for his second appearance in the world’s largest martial arts organization, as he’s set to square off with undefeated Colombian Johan “Panda Kick” Estupinan in a flyweight Muay Thai contest on Sept. 6 at ONE 168: Denver at Ball Arena.

A notoriously heavy hitter and a Road to ONE tournament winner, Climaco hardly broke a sweat in his promotional debut this past May at ONE Fight Night 22 when he employed a vicious boxing attack to quickly dispatch Mexican standout Josue “Tuzo” Cruz.

While the 30-year-old was happy with such a dominant debut, he didn’t get the chance to showcase his uniquely crafted style.

Like other world-class American Muay Thai fighters — including fellow ONE superstars Luke “The Chef” Lessei and Eddie “Silky Smooth” Abasolo — Climaco’s game is the result of blending different styles, reflecting the melting pot that is America.

“Everyone has their own style. You could see that Luke has his own style. Eddie Abasolo has his own style. So I feel like a lot of us American fighters, we just try to mix it up. I feel like there’s sometimes the smooth style, the muay femur style," Climaco told onefc.com.

“Then there’s the boxing style mixed with different types of striking, I guess. Because there’s Muay Thai, kickboxing, karate, and taekwondo styles. So I guess Americans just like to blend in different and mix different striking styles for sure.”

In his ONE debut, “The One” displayed a highly effective meat-and-potatoes approach to striking, battering his foe with low kicks before dropping the hammer with accurate punches to the head.

However, he says that was only a glimpse of his full skill set.

Climaco, like many other American strikers, often finds himself training alongside and learning from mixed martial artists and pugilists, which contributes to his well-rounded Muay Thai game.

“Just me personally, I like doing everything. And then here in America, there’s a lot of MMA fighters. There’s boxers. So it’s only natural to blend it all in together," he said.

Unless he scores another lightning-fast knockout at ONE 168, fans are likely to witness more of Climaco’s hard-to-define style, which helped him dominate the American scene before bringing his talents to ONE.

“You’re just gonna see ‘The One.’ That’s my style. You’re gonna be seeing elusiveness, power punches, hard kicks, unorthodox style," he said.

“That’s me. Because a lot of people tell me, ‘Oh, your style is so different. Your timing is so different.’ That’s why I was given the nickname ‘The One.'”

BY BEN COATE [kjdsports@joongang.co.kr]