Troy Worthen Motivated To Climb ONE’s New Rankings
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has kept “Pretty Boy” Troy Worthen cooped up at home for the past month.
The American mixed martial artist, who has been based in Singapore since joining the famed Evolve Fight Team last year, has one thing on his mind – to get back to the gym as soon as possible.
However, unlike other athletes who are desperate to resume training, Worthen’s motivation runs much deeper.
Despite amassing a perfect 3-0 winning slate since his debut last July, the Evolve representative did not make the list of the top five bantamweights in the newly released ONE Championship athlete rankings.
That said, Worthen was still happy to learn about The Home Of Martial Arts’ new ranking system.
“I’m super excited that we are finally taking a step in that direction,” he said. “I’ve been talking a lot about how I think we need rankings and it kind of gives guys in the division a roadmap of a way to the top.”
“You don’t know where you stand, you’re trying to get a temperature and you don’t know who you have to beat to get there. Now we have a bit more clarity on who the real number one contenders are and who we have to beat.”
In the bantamweight division, former ONE Bantamweight World Champion Kevin “The Silencer” Belingon, Shoko Sato, Yusup Saadulaev, Shuya “Stealth” Kamikubo, and Daichi Takenaka took the top five positions respectively. They all sit under the division’s king, Bibiano “The Flash” Fernandes.
Worthen’s omission from the bantamweight rankings has lit a fire in the Lakeland native.
“You know, seeing Daichi [Takenaka] above me when he lost to Mark [Abelardo], and I’m 3-0 in the division and I’ve beaten Abelardo, I was a little confused on that one,” he said.
“Now, it’s my job to go out there and prove that my name deserves to be in that top five.”
Even though he is a little surprised that he failed to make the top five, “Pretty Boy” also believes actions speak louder than words.
“I mean, I’m still technically the new guy, I’m not going to sit here and act like I deserve to be the number one contender,” he said.
And so, Worthen is eager to return to the Circle and believes he can contend for the World Title sooner rather than later.
“Whenever I get a chance to compete again, we’ll see if I can slide myself in there,” he said.
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