Australia’s Reece McLaren is in search of greener pastures.
The 33-year-old jiu-jitsu black belt has competed for One Championship since 2015, which makes him one of their more long-tenured athletes. An established contender in their 135-pound class, McLaren challenged Bibano Fernandes for the title back in 2016, losing a competitive split-decision. All told, he holds an 11-6 record in the One cage, most recently defeating their Flyweight champion Jarred Brooks in a Bantamweight bout.
Despite scoring one of the best wins of his professional career in December, McLaren’s future is uncertain. After struggling to get another fight scheduled, McLaren took to social media to request his release.
McLaren expressed his gratitude for nine years with the promotion, but explained “With the promotion shifting its focus towards Muay Thai and kickboxing, along with being ghosted by a matchmaker and a lack of communication, I feel it’s time for me to move on. As a competitor, I need to stay active and continue growing.
With that said, I respectfully request my release from ONE Championship. I have nothing but appreciation for the time I’ve spent under the banner, but I believe this is the best path forward for me.”
In the comments, McLaren continued to press for his release and revealed that times have been difficult even having fought twice in 2024. “The last years have been hard on myself and my family,” He continued. “The financial stress of today’s cost of living, the daunting time passing of my prime years. I’m working a 9-5 for gods sake.“
Also in the comments, Japanese MMA legend Shinya Aoki expressed his solidarity with McLaren’s plight, writing “I know how you feel. There are too few opportunities to fight.”
One Championship is still actively holding shows, but McLaren is definitely accurate in saying the promotion has shifted away from MMA and more towards striking. The reason for this is widely believed to be money. The MMA stars have larger contracts than the Muay Thai champions, which is why cage fighters like John Lineker have been offered fights outside of their usual discipline.
McLaren is not the first fighter to express his displeasure with being sidelined. Former One double champion, Reinier de Ridder, opted to fight in another promotion despite his active One contract. When nothing happened, he quickly signed to the UFC, won two fights, and is suddenly an active player in the Middleweight title mix! The “RDR” sage definitely questions just how iron-clad those contracts are and whether One has the funds to enforce them in court.
Regardless, One is not alone is suffering roster management pains. Since the Bellator and PFL merger, there’s a new high-profile fighter demanding to be freed from their contract every week. None of the non-UFC options look particularly stable currently, making free agency a difficult prospect.
Monopsony?
