Andrew Leone

Status: Former ONE Athlete

Pan-Asian Grappling Champion Andrew Leone is from Long Island, New York, and started wrestling when he was just 3 years old along with his older brother, Anthony. He would go on to become a two-time State Wrestling champion, and had his first cage bout when he was just 16 years old at an unregulated, underground show in New York.

In 2010, Leone moved to Asia, and lived his dream by training and competing all over the region. After teaching for a while at Steve Suryadinata’s Jakarta Muay Thai & MMA, Leone then took the opportunity of a lifetime to co-found Bali MMA alongside Suryadinata, Anthony, and head coach Don Carlo-Clauss. Now, Bali MMA is one of the top martial arts facilities in Asia, and when they are not on the mats, both brothers love to surf.

After beginning his professional career, Leone won five of his first six bouts, registering wins over former ONE Bantamweight World Champion Soo Chul Kim and former Road FC bantamweight champion Kyung Ho Kang. He soon signed for ONE Championship, and defeated three top contenders in a row to earn himself a shot at Bibiano Fernandes’ ONE Bantamweight World Title. Though unsuccessful, he is still actively pursuing his world championship dreams, and will not stop till he achieves them.