Rade Opacic, 27, has announced that he will be parting ways with ONE Championship. The Serbian heavyweight made his promotional debut in 2020 with a spectacular knockout victory over veteran Errol Zimmerman at ONE Championship: Big Bang 2 in Singapore. Opačić quickly established himself as a force in ONE’s heavyweight division, compiling an impressive 7-1 record. His only loss came against Guto Inocente, a defeat he later avenged.
Despite his strong performances and calls for a heavyweight title shot—preferably against reigning ONE Light Heavyweight Kickboxing and Heavyweight Muay Thai champion Roman Kryklia—the fight never came to fruition.
In a social media post, Opačić expressed his gratitude to ONE Championship and its CEO, Chatri Sityodtong, for his time in the promotion.
"Dear fans and supporters, I want to let you know that I’ve separated my way with ONE Championship. It's been very good for 4 years, I had some really amazing times and good fights and performances that really built me up as a fighter and put me in the place where I am today. Lots of good memories have been a pleasure working with all the people from ONE, every trip was a story itself. It's a bit sad for me that I didn't get a chance to fight for the belt after beating everyone in the division but it is what it is, now we focus on another path. I want to thank everybody from the organization for the great times and I wish you all a good future! Now it's time for real work and time to prove to everybody where I belong!"
With GLORY having a banner year, signing top-tier talent, and K-1 revitalizing its heavyweight division, Opačić will have no shortage of opportunities as he looks to the next chapter of his career.
