Amy Pirnie made her name with a crushing rapid-fire knockout in just 49 seconds in her ONE Championship debut; now she is looking to climb the world rankings; watch the Alexis Nicolas-Regian Eersel rematch live on Sky Sports in the early hours of Saturday morning
Friday 4 October 2024 10:28, UK
After a stunning entrance into ONE Championship competition, Scotland's Amy Pirnie is gunning for the atomweight world title.
Pirnie announced herself in sensational fashion in her first bout with ONE when she knocked out Yu Yau Pui in just 49 seconds in August.
That rapid-fire act of destruction was no accident. "It couldn't have went any smoother. My coaches break down my opponents and we put a gameplan in place. We had worked on that shot for Yu and it landed on the button," she told Sky Sports.
"It was a plan that we put in place and we just executed it on the night really well. It couldn't have went any better.
"We were looking for the knockout. We knew that she was quite an aggressive fighter. The plan was to stop her in her tracks. It was successful."
It was a performance that was all the more impressive as Pirnie had come back from near retirement. She had been out of the sport for almost three years due to a number of issues including recovering from a lingering injury.
"It wasn't intended to be as long as it was," she reflected. "There was contemplation of just finishing on the high I was on."
Pirnie fights Shir Cohen on the undercard of the Alexis Nicolas vs Regian Eersel rematch for the ONE lightweight kickboxing world title, live from 1am on Sky Sports Mix.
The Glaswegian believes a similar performance to her debut can put her on course for a shot at Allycia Rodrigues and the ONE atomweight Muay Thai world championship.
"I hope so. I made quite a big statement on my first one so I'm hoping to do the same in my second one and hopefully that does propel me closer to the title," Pirnie said. "Hopefully it will put me in line for a shot at the gold.
"[Rodriguez,] technically she's very, very skilful and she's got a lot of experience.
"I'd love to fight her. It would be an awesome fight. I think it would be a really good mix of styles."
UK fighters are making inroads into ONE Championship, the world's largest stage for martial artists.
Legendary kickboxer Liam Harrison has retired from Muay Thai and although Jonathan Haggerty lost his Muay Thai title to Superlek, he remains the ONE bantamweight kickboxing world champion and will be back in top-level competition.
There is also a wave of Glaswegian fighters looking to make an impression. As well as Pirnie, Nico Carrillo and Stephen Irvine come from the city and are rising through the ranks looking for their title shots.
Watch the Alexis Nicolas vs Regian Eersel rematch for the ONE lightweight kickboxing world title live from 1am on Sky Sports Mix
