Edgar Tabares knows he’s got a big hill to climb in his ONE Championship debut, but if 2023 has taught him anything, it is that everything is possible.
The Mexican muay Thai standout makes his promotional debut with ONE Championship on Friday in Broomfield, Colo. Right out of the gate, Tabares has been thrust into a title fight against the highly touted Rodtang Jitmuangnon for the ONE flyweight muay Thai title.
Tabares has been waiting to join ONE Championship for a while, but even with the contract offer, he doubted he’d get such an early big opportunity. Tabares envisioned the road to Jitmuangnon to be much longer in a two- or three-year plan, and for a second hesitated in taking the fight.
“When they gave me the offer to fight for the title, I hesitated a bit,” Tabares told MMA Junkie in Spanish. “I know what it means to get to that opportunity, a championship fight, and honestly, I felt it wasn’t right to accept it.
“It’s my debut, and I’m fighting for a belt. But at the end of the day, I understood. I didn’t look for this. I didn’t ask (ONE CEO) Chatri (Sityodtong) or the owners of ONE to put me in this title fight. The opportunity came to me, and we took it. Like any good Mexican, we’re grabbing this by the horns and moving forward with it.”
Representing Mexico and fighting on Cinco de Mayo plays a key role in Tabares’ motivation heading into the championship fight.
The 29-year-old has kept a close eye on what’s been happening with the Mexican talent in the UFC, and that’s given him plenty of confidence that he, too, can bring back a belt to Mexico.
“As the fights would go on, I would get more and more motivated,” Tabares said when asked about the three Mexican champions in the UFC. “When I saw Brandon (Moreno) turn into what he deserved, because he deserved to be champion, (and) when Yair (Rodriguez) won, as well, it was en even bigger rush, more adrenaline. But what I focused on more was Alexa Grasso’s win against Valentina Shevchenko.
“I’ve been visualizing her fight like mine. Everyone thought that Valentina was going to pulverize Alexa and that Alexa had no chance to win. … When she won, I stood up and started yelling, ‘Yes. Yes.’ I told myself, ‘If she can do it, I can do it.’ And it’s not because she’s less than me or that I’m more than her. It’s more that whoever believes, everything is possible. She believed it, and I believe it, too.”
Tabares, who’s a Budo Sento and an international WBC muay Thai champion, is on Cloud 9 with the opportunity. Although to many, this may seem like the pinnacle, Tabares thinks this is just he beginning of something much bigger.
“At this moment, I’m excited and happy and very grateful with God for this great opportunity,” Tabares said. “This is my dream. I wanted to be here. I wanted to get to this. This was my top. Now I have to set a new goal because I still feel I haven’t gotten to the highest part of my career. But yeah, I’m very happy.”
