‘It Is My Salvation’ – How MMA Shaped Hector Almonacid’s Road To ONE Championship
Argentinian dynamo Hector “La Arana” Almonacid has spent years building toward his ONE Championship debut, and it has finally arrived.
The 24-year-old makes his promotional bow against Brazilian standout Pedro “Guerreiro” Dantas in a featherweight MMA battle, which opens ONE Fight Night 47: Stamp vs. Flores on Prime Video, airing live in U.S. primetime from Bangkok’s Lumpinee Stadium this Friday, September 4.
Long before any of that, though, it all began much closer to home.
Almonacid was born and raised in Rio Gallegos, Argentina, and by his own account, life among his friends in the neighborhood was a good one growing up. He practiced taekwondo as a kid during that stretch, eventually working his way up to a red belt.
At 8 years old, his parents separated, and he was raised by his mother alongside his younger brother. It was not always an easy road from there, but the structure he had already found on the mats gave him something steady to return to.
Taekwondo remained a constant in his life through those years, and it was not long before he added Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu into the mix as well. Almonacid holds a brown belt in that discipline today.
Before combat sports fully took over, though, music was his real passion. He spent time developing his skills as a rapper, chasing a different kind of spotlight entirely before eventually setting that pursuit aside to focus on fighting.
Away from dropping bars on the microphone and the discipline he had already built through taekwondo and BJJ, life had not always been easy for Almonacid. Soon, MMA became the outlet that carried him through the hardest of it.
He did not take up the sport until the COVID-19 pandemic, stepping into it for the first time at 18 years old. What started as a new pursuit quickly became something far more significant.
The La Paradoja Team affiliate said:
“I have had too many difficult moments in my life, but I have overcome all the major problems I’ve faced thanks to MMA. It is my salvation.”
From there, Almonacid wasted no time making his mark. He enjoyed an undefeated amateur run from October 2021 to December 2022, before turning professional five months later. He opened his professional career with an 8-0 start, capped by a rear-naked choke finish to claim the featherweight title under the Depredador banner.
He responded with three straight wins, including two more titles, pushing his record to 11-1. That kind of run – nine finishes along the way – does not stay under the radar for long, and soon enough, ONE came calling.
Through it all, one identity has stayed constant, and fans can expect to see exactly that from the exciting Argentinian later this week.
He said:
“My fighting style is based on pressuring my opponents and crushing them with my wrestling. I haven’t changed much. I trust the work I’ve been doing for years, and I am maintaining and improving at the same pace.
“My greatest strength is my mentality, and my favorite technique is the rear-naked choke.”
Almonacid Ready To Make A Splash In ONE Debut
That same relentless mentality is exactly what Hector Almonacid vows to put on display when he makes his promotional bow against Pedro Dantas at ONE Fight Night 47.
“La Arana” – Spanish for “The Spider,” arrives on a three-fight submission streak, and he has already broken down exactly what he expects from Dantas across the ring.
The 24-year-old said:
“I believe his strength is his striking, and I am going to neutralize it with my wrestling. Meanwhile, his weakness is [facing] fighters who come forward, and that is what I am going to do. I am going to pressure Pedro Dantas until I break him.”
Confidence like that has followed Almonacid every step of the way, built through years of grinding out results long before the world’s largest martial arts organization came calling.
From the amateur circuit to his rebound after that lone professional loss, he has never once needed the biggest stage to believe in what he can do.
That same fire extends to how he sees this featherweight MMA clash ending, and he is calling his shot without a hint of hesitation.
He concluded:
“This fight will end in the first round via submission, and I will win the performance bonus of the night.”
