is the latest Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu wunderkind to join ONE Championship바카라s rapidly expanding roster of world-class submission grapplers.
The 20-year-old American phenom will battle Japanese legend Shinya Aoki at ONE Fight Night 26.
is the latest Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu wunderkind to join ONE Championship바카라s rapidly expanding roster of world-class submission grapplers.
The 20-year-old will make his highly anticipated promotional debut on December 6 in U.S. primetime at when he locks horns with Japanese legend in a lightweight tilt at Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.
Long hailed as the most talented young rising star in the sport, Abate바카라s arrival in ONE Championship has fans anxious with excitement.
Before he makes his first official walk as a ONE athlete, we look back at the American바카라s climb to the world바카라s largest martial arts organization.
Abate was born in Beaumont, Texas, where he recalls always being athletically gifted and naturally competitive.
But while he excelled in team sports like basketball and baseball, he knew early on that his passion lay with BJJ and the rewards of an individual sport.
He started in the grappling-based art at just 5 years old and realized that BJJ was for him in just his second class:
바카라I remember there was a real turning point for me when, at the end of class, we바카라d do this sumo game where you바카라d have to push the person out of the ring. They바카라d make a little circle with the belts, and you just have to get low and drive the person out. And my professor just kept putting in the higher belts. He kept putting in the better kids, and I just kept driving the kids out.
바카라That was kind of the turning point for me because it바카라s like, even though you play basketball and baseball, you바카라re the athletic kid. You바카라re the star on the team.
바카라In jiu-jitsu, you don바카라t need that extra person to make you win or help determine the results of the match or the competition. In jiu-jitsu, it바카라s all you out there.바카라
Hooked from the beginning, Abate would eventually quit all other sports to focus entirely on BJJ.
He spent his first nine years training under respected coach and decorated black belt competitor Rodrigo Pinheiro. With the full support of his parents and careful guidance from Pinheiro, the youngster competed as often as he could, racking up gold medals at every major tournament to establish himself as the country바카라s top BJJ prodigy.
Above all, Abate understood right away that his work ethic would play the biggest role in how successful he could become:
바카라I 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 didn바카라t really have to have somebody tell me that.
바카라That experience alone and just feeling the happiness of winning and going after the higher belts made me motivated to continue training.바카라
By the age of 8, Abate had convinced his parents to let him homeschool so that he could spend even more time training and competing in BJJ.
When he was 14, his father was given the opportunity to relocate for work and asked his son where his dream training destination would be.
Abate already knew he wanted to make BJJ his career and become an all-time great. To that end, he told his dad he wanted to learn under brothers Gui and Rafa Mendes at the famed Art of Jiu-Jitsu Academy in Costa Mesa, California:
바카라I saw what they were doing at AoJ, and I바카라ve always really admired it.
바카라They were investing in the younger generation more than the Black Belt World Champions because they were thinking in the future. They were thinking more about building a system that would run smoothly for years to come.바카라
Abate바카라s father agreed to the move, and before he knew it, young Cole was trying his first class at AoJ.
He recalls training hard against a number of the school바카라s top athletes that day, but what really stuck with him was a conversation he had with head instructor Gui Mendes after the class. That conversation would set the tone for Abate바카라s incredible journey in the following years:
바카라He 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 they바카라re wearing. You have, at this point, over 10 years of jiu-jitsu experience.
바카라There바카라s no excuse for losing or just accepting defeat against those guys. You can beat them. You just gotta put your mind to it.
바카라So, don바카라t try to be the best green belt here. Don바카라t try to be the best kid here. We all know you are. Now is the time to get ahead of everybody else and just try to be the best in the world at your weight.바카라
Under the tutelage of the Mendes brothers, Abate continued to enjoy unprecedented competition success throughout his colored belt career, becoming the youngest male to ever win the ultra-tough ADCC North American Trials.
Given his accomplishments as a teen, he knew he was destined for greatness:
바카라I knew that that was the highest level for kids and saw that I was above it. It let me know that I was above everybody my age. So that if I just stayed above everybody my age as the years went on, I could be one of the best to ever do it.바카라
Indeed, Abate바카라s rise through the ranks was essentially a perfect blueprint for a young phenom. In July 2023, he was awarded his well-deserved BJJ black belt and looked ready to take the highest levels of competition by storm.
Late that year, though, he suffered a broken tibia in training, derailing the big plans for his rookie year as a black belt. The injury is one of the most devastating and difficult to come back from in all of sports, and 바카라Ice바카라 Cole was forced to the sidelines for months due to surgery and a lengthy recovery process.
He said that his parents and coaches played a key role in allowing him to handle the setback with a positive attitude:
바카라I think I had a really good mindset about it after the first few days post-surgery, and I credit a lot of that to both my parents and my professor.
바카라They told me that this should be treated just like any competition. It should be treated with the same mindset. Imagine you바카라re getting ready for the biggest tournament of your life, and everything you do revolves around that one goal. And your goal is to get back to 100 percent and pretend like nothing ever happened.바카라
In 2024, Abate returned to action and quickly lived up to the massive hype surrounding him, defeating decorated Black Belt World Champion Gianni Grippo on his way to winning gold at the IBJJF No-Gi Pan-American Championships.
Looking back at his injury, Abate is now grateful for the opportunity to overcome adversity and inspire others.
He explained:
바카라At the end of the day, things like that make your story even more interesting. And I always tell people, it바카라s important to have those losses, those setbacks, those injuries to test your character.
바카라Because if your career is only uphill, there are no times where you go down, it바카라s hard for anybody that watches you and admires your work to feel inspired by that because you바카라re just Superman at that point. You can바카라t really inspire people, because it바카라s not very realistic.
바카라So I바카라d rather have a story that, yes, is inspiring, yes, is successful. Of course, I don바카라t want any of that to happen, per se, but I want it to be a story that people can relate to and feel inspired by.바카라
The 20-year-old Abate is now excited to showcase his talents on the global stage in the world바카라s largest martial arts organization.
His career goal is lofty but simple 바카라 cement himself as one of the greatest submission grapplers of all time by competing against the best of the best in ONE:
바카라I think there바카라s 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 that바카라s what excites me, and I feel like it바카라s in line with my goals.
바카라I바카라ve had my goals since I바카라ve been a kid about what I wanna do once I바카라m 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.바카라