Adrian “Papua Badboy” Mattheis did what he predicted in his match against Li Zhe, stop him in the second round. The end came at the 1:51 mark by a TKO punch.
The victory earned the Indonesian star his fourth win in a row, seventh victory in his last eight matches. His three earlier victories are likewise impressive: a submission by rear-naked choke, a submission by guillotine choke, and TKO by strikes.
A few more victories like this can catapult him for a ONE strawweight title shot, currently held by Team Lakay’s Joshua Pacio.
Despite these impressive string of victories, Mattheis believes he may have to wait a while to challenge for the ONE Strawweight World Title as there may be some contenders with more marquee wins ahead of him in the pecking order,
He, however, is already dreaming of a chance to test himself against “The Passion” and expresses will to dedicate his life to improving his mixed martial arts skills so he will be ready if the opportunity comes.
“He is a good fighter. If I were to face him, I would have to be more prepared. I have to go the extra mile and train a lot more! I need to improve my physical endurance and striking skills. If there is any chance that I would face him, I want to stand with him and not take him down. I want to test my striking skills against him!”, said Matthies to ONE.
According to the ONE Championship website pages, “Mattheis was born in the Maluku islands of Indonesia to a family of farmers. Leaving in search of a better life after surviving violence and riots, his family settled in Sorong. Fortunately, his parents supported his ambition to train in martial arts, and they enrolled him in karate classes.
He later met famed coach Zuli Silawanto while studying at a university in Jakarta, and Mattheis soon began to train for professional competition. He would make his ONE Championship debut in August 2016, defeating two opponents via knockout in the same night to win a four-man tournament and make an instant impact.”
Matthies is currently sporting a 9-4-0 MMA fight record, all happening under the ONE Championship banner. Eight of his victories are by early finishes, four by knockouts and four by submissions.
The Tigershark Fighting Academy representative holds ONE strawweight records for participating in the bouts (13), wins (9), and finishes (8). He is tied for the most knockouts (4) and has the most submissions (4). The 22 second he needed to finish his opponent during his debut bout is the fastest finish ever in the strawweight division.
He’s faced the Catalan brothers, Rene and Robin, before and lost to both by submission. Rene ended their bout At the 2:08 mark of the second round by an armbar while Robin almost duplicated that by finishing him at the 2:10 also of the second with a heel hook.
By Armando M. Bolislis
