Mitch Chilson Looking to challenege for the One FC Featherweight belt in 2013

Mitch Chilson made his MMA debut in Singapore in 2010 and four of his six professional fights have taken pace in his adopted home. Although he hails from Seattle the 34 year old is a fan favourite who has been adopted as an honorary Singaporean.

He suffered a disappointing defeat to Eric Kelly, the Filipino who has beaten all comers in the featherweight division, on his ONE FC debut but has bounced back to win two fights out of three in 2012.

He is coming off a dominant win over Ngabdi Mulyadi at ONE FC: ‘Rise of Kings’ when Chilson was able to control the veteran Indonesian wrestler by beating him at his own game although he had to fight through some early adversity,

“On the first takedown attempt I slammed my head against the mat and it took a little while to clear my head. I was given a gameplan to put him on his back. My coaches felt he would be uncomfortable fighting from that position,” he said.

The win was especially satisfactory because Chilson showed that he could outwrestle an Indonesian national champion and SEA Games bronze medalist,

“It felt good to see how much my wrestling has improved. I have spent the last year working with the legend Heath Sims on my wrestling. We drill everyday and I was pleased to be able to control a champion.”

The only disappointment for Chilson was that his appearance at ONE FC: ‘Pride of a Nation’ in front of 16,500 fans in Manila ended in controversy due to some inept officiating which denied both men the right to fight to a proper conclusion.

He was tagged by a perfectly timed punch from up and coming Thai prospect Shannon Wiratchai which was followed up by an illegal soccer kick. Chilson still somehow managed to recover and was working for a takedown when the referee inexplicably decided to stop the fight.

It was an unsatisfactory ending and ONE FC tried to make an immediate rematch the following month but Wiratchai was unable to fight due to an injury sustained during the first meeting. Chilson says he would be happy to face him again in 2013 but isn’t looking to handpick his opponents,

“I’ll fight whoever ONE FC puts in front of me and if Shannon is in my way on my road to the featherweight title then I’ll be happy to fight the rematch.”

Chilson’s record currently stands at 4-1 with the one no contest and ONE FC wins over AJ Mansour and Mulyadi put him in the mix in the 145 lbs division. Another win would put him in contention for a shot at the featherweight belt which is about to be contested by Honorio Banario and Kelly.

He is not on the card for ONE FC: ‘Return of Warriors’ in February but says he hopes to return to action when the next ONE FC card is held in Singapore,

“I want to fight on the next ONE FC show here in Singapore because it is my home and it’s always better to cut weight at home and sleep in your own bed. The Singaporean fans are awesome they are educated and excited about MMA. I am proud to call Singapore and Evolve MMA my home.”

For the time being Chilson is training at Evolve MMA and helping out his other team mates who have fights booked. Shinya Aoki is competing at the DREAM / GLORY show at the Saitama Super Arena on New Year’s Eve while Jake Butler is booked to make his ONE FC debut on Malaysia on February 2nd.

There have also been a couple of new faces stopping by to train at Asia’s top martial arts academy and Chilson is excited by what he has seen so far of Brazilian featherweight Bruno Pucci and South African bantamweight Irshaad Sayed,

“Bruno both joined the team this month and Irshaad has been training here too and it is exciting to have them both at Evolve MMA. Irshaad is a former Muay Thai world champion and his stand up is very impressive and Bruno is a No Gi Grappling world champion and has incredible ground game.”

Sayed is at Evolve MMA to prepare for the biggest fight of his life for the RUFF title in February while Pucci has joined the team on a permanent basis and is likely to make his ONE FC debut in 2013 and Chilson is excited to get to train with two fighters with such exciting potential,

“Both are young guys and I see them going very far in MMA. Coming to Evolve MMA was the right choice for these two to work with Evolve’s phenomenal group of world champion instructors.”

Chilson was one of the founding members of the fight team and has been involved in Evolve MMA since day one. In the four years since it has grown to the point that it is universally recognized as being the best training facility in the region and the American is happy to have played a part in this process,

“Evolve MMA has always had world champion instructors so I am not surprised by how successful the fight team has been because when you learn from the best you can only get better. It is amazing how fast MMA has grown in Singapore, to the point where 10,000 fans will come and watch my fights and I am proud to be able to represent the top team in Asia and have so many people come to see me fight. It’s an honour.”

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