Featherweight kickboxing standout Tayfun “Turbine” Ozcan knows he’s competing in the most talent-rich division in all of combat sports, but he’s not ready to accept anything less than greatness.
On June 9 at ONE Fight Night 11: Eersel vs. Menshikov on Prime Video the Turkish-Dutch scrapper will look for his second win in the organization when he faces former divisional king Superbon Singha Mawynn live in U.S. primetime from the iconic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.
Once considered the planet’s top pound-for-pound striker, the former ONE Featherweight Kickboxing World Champion in Superbon represents a massive opportunity for Ozcan.
But the division’s #5-ranked contender disagrees. Ozcan believes he’s done plenty to earn this pivotal matchup against the Thai superstar.
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The 31-year-old said:
“It doesn’t feel like an opportunity, to be honest. It feels like this is the spot I deserve. I belong there. I proved myself for many years, with many fights, that I belong there at the top.”
Superbon comes into the contest following a crushing World Title defeat to current divisional king Chingiz Allazov in January.
Despite that loss, Ozcan still sees his foe as supremely dangerous and very much one of the world’s absolute best kickboxers.
He said:
“I know, of course, it’s still Superbon and people say, ‘Yeah, but he got knocked out.’ But it’s still Superbon. Anything can happen in a fight, and you can get knocked out against any person. It doesn’t make him more or less of an opponent. He’s still Superbon, and I take him very seriously.”
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How, then, does “Turbine” plan to best such a highly regarded opponent?
According to Ozcan, the key to defeating Superbon is keeping his foot on the gas pedal and forcing the elusive Thai athlete into an all-action brawl.
Ozcan said:
“You need to take the fight to him. [It’s] the only choice you have. But in a smart way, because he’s so smart and technical. If you let him play his game, well, I wouldn’t even consider coming to Bangkok because I know I [would] lose. So, the only thing I can do now is take the fight to him, and let’s take the fight to every Thai fighter because they are perfect at avoiding the fight.”
Tayfun Ozcan Promises To Flip The Switch On His ONE Career
A former European Kickboxing Champion, Tayfun Ozcan came to ONE Championship with a considerable amount of hype behind him.
In fact, he holds an 86-10 professional striking record and has fought and defeated some of the most dangerous kickboxers in the world.
However, he currently carries a 1-2 record in ONE Championship, which speaks volumes to the level of competition he’s up against in the organization. Those two loses, after all, came against legendary fighters Sitthichai Sitsongpeenong and Marat Grigorian.
Ozcan said:
“What the most important thing for me is, I had a bad start at ONE, obviously, and I wasn’t mentally there the first couple of fights. It wasn’t nice, but now I can’t accept that my ONE career is two losses to one win. I cannot accept that. And honestly, I don’t care who they put in [front of] me now because I would accept every fight just to make up [for the losses].”
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Ozcan recognizes that he’s competing against the crème de la crème of the striking world – the finest collection of kickboxers the planet has ever seen.
Still, that doesn’t make his losses any easier to swallow, and “Turbine” is on a mission to make his mark on the featherweight kickboxing division.
Ozcan said:
“[Giorgio] Petrosyan, Sitthichai, Marat, Superbon, Chingiz — it’s like the Champions League. That’s the division that we’re in. You watch the Champions League final, you see 1-1 or 1-0. It always comes close. It’s painful, but it is what it is. They are losses.
“You know, 10 years, you look back, everyone sees a loss. It doesn’t matter if it’s close or not. They are losses. And I don’t want to end my ONE career with more losses than wins. I never had that, so I cannot accept it.”
