Cole Abate will make his ONE Championship debut against Shinya Aoki on December 6 at ONE Fight Night 26.
Teenage phenom Cole Abate will soon make his much-anticipated debut in ONE Championship’s submission grappling division.
On December 6, at ONE Fight Night 26, the Art of Jiu-Jitsu product will face former MMA world champion Shinya Aoki in a 10-minute submission-only affair. That matchup will take place at the Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.
Fresh off a gold medal performance at the 2024 IBJJF No-Gi Pans – his first major title as a black belt – Abate has long been regarded as one of BJJ’s most promising young athletes.
In 2021, at just 16 years old, he won the ADCC East Coast Trials, defeating top black belt competitors like Jon Calestine, Deandre Corbe, and Keith Krikorian. While he would subsequently suffer a first-round exit at the 2022 ADCC World Championships, Abate has continued to cement himself as an elite no-gi grappler. In his most recent performance, at the No-Gi Pans, he took out decorated veteran Gianni Grippo, talented Brazilian Ismael Santos, and European no-gi champion Julian Espinosa.
Abate will be in for an intriguing challenge in his promotional debut. A BJJ and judo black belt, Aoki is one of the most dangerous and creative submission artists to ever fight in MMA. He is a former DREAM and ONE MMA world champion and comes into this match following a submission victory over John Lineker.
While he’s best known for his accomplishments in MMA, the 41-year-old is no stranger to submission grappling competition. In addition to his appearance at the 2005 ADCC World Championships, he has competed in ONE submission grappling bouts against Garry Tonon, Marat Gafurov, Kade Ruotolo, and Mikey Musumeci.
On paper, Abate stands out as the clear favorite in this matchup, as he is the much more active and accomplished grappling competitor and is on the cutting edge of modern BJJ technique. Still, Aoki owns a deep bag of tricks and has proven difficult to put away.
How to watch: Cole Abate vs. Shinya Aoki takes place on December 6, 2024 at ONE Fight Night 26, which will air live on Prime Video (free with Amazon Plus subscription) beginning at 8:00 PM ET.
