Troy Worthen: ‘I’m Very Worried This Fight Doesn’t Happen’

Troy Worthen is hungrier than ever to get back in the win column after suffering back-to-back losses. It’s been almost two years since One Championship bantamweight Worthen (7-2, 3-2 One) upended Mark Abelardo for his latest victory inside the Circle. Since then, “Pretty Boy” first dropped a decision to Yusup Saadulaev at One “Collision Course” and then had lost by KO at the hands of John Lineker at One on TNT 3. Now, the Sanford MMA standout plans to get back on track by defeating Shuya Kamikubo in their upcoming clash at One “Heavy Hitters.” The pair was supposed to clash in April 2021 before the Singapore-based promotion had a sudden change of heart and matched Worthen with Lineker. Once again, there is a shadow hanging over the Worthen-Kamikubo fight, and it’s the resurgence in COVID-19 cases due to the omicron variant.

“I’m really scared,” Worthen told Sherdog. “I put in a full camp, I’m ready to go make money and provide for my family. You know, I got my RT-PCR test done today, I’m waiting for the results and who knows. One positive test, my fight could be scratched. Singapore could shut back down. Pretty much, my camp is wrapped up. I’m ready to go, but I’m still day-to-day very worried that maybe the fight doesn’t happen. I’m grateful that One Championship has events going on right now, but me being in the United States and One Championship being based out of Singapore right now, it’s a daily thought. Maybe I won’t have a job soon, or they won’t be able to have events and get us over. It’s definitely on the back of my mind, but I’m just trying to stay focused on the task at hand, and that’s beating Shuya Kamikubo on Jan. 14.”

Worthen also talked about his fight with Lineker, his vision for martial arts, his potential future as a coach, and more.

(00:00) Intro
(01:22) Why his fight with Kamikubo at One on TNT fell off the card
(02:57) The clash with Lineker
(05:04) Picking Lineker vs. Bibiano Fernandes
(06:08) Whether he’s pursuing a rematch with Lineker
(07:07) Getting ranked in case of victory
(09:00) Whether he’s worried about the resurgence in COVID-19 cases
(10:34) Goals for 2022
(11:30) Embracing martial arts as a lifelong path
(14:00) Outro

Tudor Leonte started writing about mixed martial arts in 2013 for Italian media outlets. His journey with Sherdog began in 2018 and he now covers One Championship and countless European shows. You can follow him on Twitter @MrTudorLeonte.