Enkh-Orgil Baatarkhuu has already done what most fighters never will. The ONE Bantamweight MMA World Champion submitted Fabricio Andrade in December to claim the belt and become only the second Mongolian to hold ONE MMA gold.
Now, barely four months into his reign, his ambitions have already moved to the next mountain.
“The Tormentor” has set his sights on ONE Featherweight MMA World Champion Tang Kai. A potential super-fight between the Mongolian champion’s relentless grappling and the Chinese knockout artist’s devastating power would be one of the biggest bouts ONE Championship could make — and Baatarkhuu knows exactly why he wants it.
Tang Kai defends his title against Shamil Gasanov at ONE Fight Night 43 on May 15 first, but Baatarkhuu has already made his interest clear.
“All martial artists have a dream to become multi-division champions, right? For me, it’s the same. Most importantly, I want to make history as the first-ever two-division Mongolian MMA World Champion. That is the biggest motivation for me to challenge Tang Kai for the featherweight belt,” Baatarkhuu said.
“After Tang Kai and myself go inside the cage, I don’t know what will happen. I don’t know how the fight will end, whether that’s by a knockout or submission. But what I am thinking in my mind, I see a five-round war. For me, there’s a chance I can go the distance with him and beat him.”
Baatarkhuu lays out his vision for the bantamweight division
While chasing featherweight gold, Enkh-Orgil Baatarkhuu hasn’t lost sight of the belt he already holds. He has strict standards for who deserves a shot at it, standards taught to him by his coach, former ONE Featherweight MMA World Champion Narantungalag Jadambaa.
With both Fabricio Andrade and John Lineker coming off losses, Baatarkhuu wants to see them settle it between themselves before either gets a title shot. He has a clear preference for who emerges.
“I am okay to fight whoever, but in my division, for example, [John] Lineker, he lost his last fight. And Fabricio also lost to me. It was a rear-naked choke. It wasn’t like a five-round decision,” Baatarkhuu said.
“I would like to say that I’m ready to fight whoever deserves to fight me. But I think it is better for those two guys to face each other. Whoever wins can go against me, I’m ready to do that.”