Odie Delaney makes his second appearance in ONE Championship this Friday, and he is looking to one-up his last win.
A hammerlock is a very rare submission, and Delaney (3-0) pulled it off in his ONE Championship debut earlier this year.
NASTY RARE SUBMISSION 🤯
The heavyweight MMA collision between Thomas Narmo and Odie Delaney ended with an insane submission! #ONEBadBlood #WeAreONE #ONEChampionship pic.twitter.com/sosxw2X8rU
— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) February 13, 2022
It wasn’t a rare submission to Delaney, though. He had been using it all through his college wrestling days.
“So I’ve actually done that [submission before]. I kind of stole that from my collegiate wrestling days because a lot of times, you get your arm up on the lower back, and I used that to kind of initiate a pinning series,” Delaney told Cageside Press in an exclusive interview. “But I kind of adapted that when I got into jujitsu, I get the arm on the back, and then cross claw and just turn that into like an assistant hammer. Like, I’ve been doing that for a while. But obviously, no one gets to see me in the training room. So yeah, now it’s been revealed the hammerlock. Yeah, the OD lock. They called it.”
Before Delaney locked on that hammerlock, it had been almost three years since his last fight. He competed at Alaska Combat Entertainment in 2019, submitting John Faletagoai via D’Arce choke. Then the COVID-19 pandemic happened.
It was a frustrating time for the 32-year-old.
“Yeah, I was extremely frustrating. I mean, that was a test. You know, because I think COVID took a lot of people out of the fight game. You’re sitting there for one or two years, and it was really hard to get a fight. It’s already difficult to get a fight as a heavyweight at the regional level, especially when you’re a division 1 wrestler. So all those difficulties kind of compounded. It was really a test. It was kind of a mental test,” Delaney said. “So yeah, it was a test getting back in the cage. I mean, I felt amazing. I’m a competitor. It’s just something that I’m always going to need. I’m always gonna have to compete in some way. That’s just my personality. So getting back in there was amazing and felt so good. It lit the fire back underneath me. And I’m ready to just go on a tear.”
Delaney’s next opponent is Iranian wrestler Mehdi Barghi. They throw down at ONE Championship 158: Tawanchai vs. Larsen on Friday, June 3.
Delaney loves the match-up because it is between two wrestlers, and he believes he is the far superior wrestler. “The Witness” plans on finishing him and says his opponent is in trouble if he just rushes in.
“He’s an explosive guy, and he seems to kind of blow everything he’s got all at once, based on his last fight. If he goes with that same strategy, I think he’s in a lot of trouble. Because if you rush in on me, he’s gonna get caught. He’s gonna get submitted quick,” Delaney said. “You know, I’m not necessarily a household name in the jujitsu world, but my submission game is solid. And I’ll go toe to toe with anybody. So yeah, he’s gonna have to be careful on that front. If he wants to stand up and bang, he’s got a big problem to figure out because I’m a lot longer than he is and a lot taller than he is. And I’m not going to back up scared like some of his other opponents did. So yeah, we’re gonna get to see how that all plays out.”
Watch the rest of our interview with ONE 158’s Odie Delaney above. The event takes place this Friday, June 3 in Singapore.
