5 Things You Might Not Know About Reece McLaren

Reece McLaren has been a dependable but often-overlooked piece of One Championship’s plans since he joined the organization as a promising, wet-behind-the-ears prospect in 2015.

The 30-year-old Australian will confront Wei Xie in a three-round One 158 flyweight feature on June 3 at Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, Singapore. McLaren has won two of his past three bouts and sports a 7-5 record inside the promotion. He last competed on April 7, when he dropped a unanimous decision to Yuya Wakamatsu at One on TNT 3.

As McLaren approaches his battle with the knockout-minded Xie, here are five things you might not know about him:

1. His beginnings could not have been humbler.

McLaren was raised by a single mother on Christmas Island, an Australian territory of less than 2,000 people located just south of nearby Indonesia. The island sits in the Indian Ocean, roughly 1,000 miles from Australia’s mainland.

2. He learned on the job.

“Lightning” made his professional mixed martial arts debut at 19 years of age on Nov. 20, 2010, when he took a unanimous decision from Bryce Monkivitch in their FightWorld Cup 7 pairing at the Nerang Police Citizens Youth Club in Queensland, Australia. McLaren has fought at least once every calendar year since.

3. World-class ground skills serve as his rudder.

McLaren holds the rank of black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and he has put those tools to use in hand-to-hand combat. He has delivered eight of his 14 career victories by submission: four by rear-naked choke, one by armbar, one by kimura, one by brabo choke and one by arm-triangle choke.

4. He has his share of hardware.

The Potential Unlimited Mixed Martial Arts product has captured titles in the Eternal MMA and Xtreme Fighting Championships organizations. He laid claim to the vacant EMMA bantamweight crown when he submitted Shantaram Maharaj with a second-round rear-naked choke at EMMA 5 on May 3, 2014 and took home the XFC bantamweight belt when he dispatched Jacob Mahony—a man who had defeated him less than two years earlier—with a rear-naked choke in the first round of their XFC 23 rematch on Feb. 28, 2015.

5. He once flirted with unseating a legend.

McLaren nearly dethroned Bibiano Fernandes for the One Championship bantamweight crown. He lost a split decision to the AMC Pankration-trained Brazilian in the One Championship “Age of Domination” co-main event in December 2016. It was part of a historic 1,848-day reign for Fernandes.