Cole Abate will leap onto the global stage for his ONE Championship debut on Friday, December 6, at ONE Fight Night 26. The lightweight submission grappling contest will pit him against legendary grappler Shinya Aoki. The big debut for the Abate marks another career milestone for the 20-year-old.
Growing up in Texas, he fell in love with jiu-jitsu. While he appreciated team sports, he was drawn to the one-on-one nature of grappling. He knew he only had to rely on himself and put in the hard work to achieve success.
“I learned at a very early age that the amount of work I put in is what I would get out when it came to the results of the competition. I didn’t really have to have somebody tell me that. That experience alone and just feeling the happiness of winning and going after the higher belts made me motivated to continue training,” Abate told ONE.
LEGEND VS. PRODIGY 🥋⚔️ Former ONE Lightweight MMA World Champion and grappling icon Shinya Aoki welcomes American BJJ phenom Cole Abate to ONE in a submission grappling duel on December 6 at ONE Fight Night 26 on @PrimeVideo! Can "Tobikan Judan" spoil "Ice" Cole's debut?… pic.twitter.com/JPzfr4rCgO
— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) November 12, 2024
When Abate was 14, his father was able to relocate for work. Knowing that his son was committed to becoming an elite grappler, he asked Cole where he would like to train. At the top of his list was the Art of Jiu-Jitsu Academy in Costa Mesa, California.
The move was made. When he hit the mats, lead instructor Gui Mendes quickly guided the young star. Mendes delivered sage advice that Abate still uses to this day.
“He said your goal right now is not to be the best green belt, not to be the best kid, not to be the best 14-year-old. You need to be the best person at your weight regardless of how old, what titles the person has, and what belt they’re wearing. You have, at this point, over 10 years of jiu-jitsu experience. There’s no excuse for losing or just accepting defeat against those guys. You can beat them. You just gotta put your mind to it,” Abate remarked.
That mindset has allowed Abate to be one of the hottest stars in the sport. The talented young gun outperformed his age group routinely and made a name for himself. But his road did not come without adversity.
During training in 2023, Abate suffered a broken tibia. He had to get surgery and go through a lengthy rehab to come back as strong as before. However, now he is able to reflect and appreciate his ability to meet hardships head-on and be an inspiration to others meeting roadblocks on their paths.
“At the end of the day, things like that make your story even more interesting. And I always tell people, it’s important to have those losses, those setbacks, those injuries to test your character. Because if your career is only uphill, there are no times where you go down, it’s hard for anybody that watches you and admires your work to feel inspired by that because you’re just Superman at that point. You can’t really inspire people, because it’s not very realistic,” Abate stated.
Abate’s drive to create a legacy has led him to ONE, and Aoki is the first test of his new journey. The decision to join ONE was primarily due to his personal goals and building his fanbase on a global scale. December 6 will be his introduction, and he plans to give a standout performance in Bangkok.
“I think there’s a lot of potential for me to add to my audience and add to my image as being the young guy, the person that has been doing everything right since they were a kid, and be able to show that story to even more people. So I think that’s what excites me, and I feel like it’s in line with my goals. I’ve had my goals since I’ve been a kid about what I wanna do once I’m a black belt. My goal is to go down as one of the best Americans this sport has ever seen, and everything that ONE is offering to me is in line with that,” Abate said.
ONE Fight Night 26 airs live on Friday, December 6, on Prime Video. The action begins at 8 p.m. EST/5 p.m. PST. The event is free for all Amazon Prime subscribers in the U.S. and Canada.
