Lea Bivins was supposed to make her professional debut in ONE Championship earlier this year, but the bout failed to materialize when her opponent failed to make weight. After the initial disappointment, the Sacramento native is ready to step inside the Circle at ONE on Prime Video 3: Lineker vs. Andrade on Friday, October 21.
This time Bivins will square off against the undefeated Noelle Grandjean, who will also be making her organizational debut.
The two atomweight athletes will get the action started in the first bout of the evening. For Bivins, she views it as a sign of confidence from the promotion to be entrusted with the night’s opening contest. And she is not going to let it pass without giving it her all.
“It’s definitely exciting being on Prime Video. I’m very grateful for the company to be able to offer it to me. I know a lot of debuters don’t get to be on the Prime card, so that’s really exciting. It is exciting too, because everybody watches Prime. I was just watching ‘The Apprentice: ONE Championship Edition’ last night, it came out in the U.S.,” said Bivins.
“Being the first bout has a lot of benefits to it, you know. Your adrenaline dump starts as soon as you go out there. You don’t have to wait for a bunch of fights to be able to fight. I’m definitely more excited to go out there and be able to be the first bout to put a show on.”
The 3-0 Grandjean has the American’s full attention. Bivins has kept a close eye on her opponent so that she can learn as much as she can ahead of the battle. “First Moon” wants to cover all of the bases and be prepared for whatever Grandjean has to offer as she prepares to introduce herself to the global audience.
“Yeah, I’ve watched all her fights, actually, a bunch of times. I’ve been on her Instagram this whole fight camp, kind of stalking her and watching what she does. It looks like her strength is more of in stand-up, I would say,” said Bivins.
“So obviously, we got to watch out for Muay Thai. I’ve been working on Muay Thai myself, and it seems like she’s also very good at judo. I think that she was a judo black belt. It looks like she had some throws, so we’ve just been working some counters, and a lot of ground game, not really leaving out any sort of martial arts aspect.”
Bivins will enter the Circle as a highly confident athlete. Although this will be her first step onto the global stage, she has international competition under her belt as an amateur. After training with the Lee family in Hawaii, she is only growing in confidence in her own abilities.
The 20-year-old wants to get her professional career started with a statement victory and put “Lil’ Monkey” away as a sign that the future has arrived in ONE.
“I definitely want to end this fight with my hand getting raised, however I got to do it. You know, I would like to go out there and showcase my Muay Thai, especially because she’s coming from Tiger Muay Thai. I would like to outstrike her,” said Bivins.
ONE on Prime Video 3: Lineker vs. Andrade airs live on Friday, October 21, at 8 p.m. EST/5 p.m. PST.
Lea Bivins on Instagram: “Thank you guys for the amazing experiences out here so very thankful ❤️ I learned a bunch of new stuff to share with my students back HOM so the gift of Martial arts will continue. The moment we got off the plane we were swept up off our feet and adopted right into their family and for that we are very grateful and we felt the love daily. Very gracious host but it felt more like family and thats what I will be taking back home with me a recharge if whats important through the good and bad times “family”.
Thank you for having not only me but my mom and baby sister too our bond has strengthened because of this. I thank you so much and we love you guys and can’t wait to come back!”
Mma, One fc, One championship
Black Belt Magazine
- Bitcoin
- Ethereum
- Monero
Donate Bitcoin to The Bitstream
Scan the QR code or copy the address below into your wallet to send some Bitcoin to The Bitstream
Donate Ethereum to The Bitstream
Scan the QR code or copy the address below into your wallet to send some Ethereum to The Bitstream
Donate Monero to The Bitstream
Scan the QR code or copy the address below into your wallet to send some Monero to The Bitstream
Donate Via Wallets
Select a wallet to accept donation in ETH BNB BUSD etc..