ONE Championship flyweight Muay Thai contender Denis Puric has called for his spot in the rankings to be reinstated after Elias Mahmoudi was suspended six months for a positive drugs test.
Algeria’s Mahmoudi beat Puric via third-round TKO at ONE Fight Night 26 on December 7 before failing an in-competition test in Bangkok at Lumpinee Stadium after the matchup.
“The Sniper” tested positive for meldonium, a substance banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), whose code ONE’s testing partner adheres to.
No 3-ranked Mahmoudi’s win has now been overturned to a No Contest, but Puric – who lost his place in the top five after the defeat – is hoping for more reparations.
“Sucks to hear a young up-and-coming kid has to take some kind of stuff to fight an old man like me,” 39-year-old Puric told the Bangkok Post.
“But that shows obviously how dangerous I am in this division – that people have to take stuff to compete with me, especially at this age.
“I think ONE should put me back in the rankings. I’m here to fight the top guys again. It would be nice to fight for the title sometime this year. So I think I should fight the winner of Kongthoranee and Nong-O.
“If ONE has other plans then let me stay busy at least in kickboxing, let me fight Taiki Naito or anybody in the top five, until they figure out what they wanna do with the Muay Thai division.”
Puric insisted he still respects Mahmoudi – the pair had a bet that the loser of their fight would buy dinner, and they grew close in fight week despite being opponents.
“Yeah, it's a little bit disappointing that this happened,” Puric said. “Elias, I looked at him as a warrior, and a good competitor, and also a tough son of a gun. So I don’t know what to say about it really.
“This is the nicest way I can put it out there. I don’t wanna be rude. I like Elias, he’s a beast and bound to be a champion sooner or later but this is obviously disappointing news to hear.”
After beating Puric, 27-year-old Mahmoudi had called for a shot for the vacant flyweight Muay Thai belt against Rodtang Jitmuangnon despite missing weight.
“The Bosnian Menace” is hoping instead to slide in and get another crack at Rodtang, whom he lost a decision to in a kickboxing bout last summer in Bangkok – when “The Iron Man” badly missed weight.
“Maybe in the near future when he’s off his suspension, maybe we can run it back with Elias,” Puric said.
“But right now I’m looking to be back in the column where I was. I really want to fight for the title this year, which is the reason I’m staying here in Thailand.”
Puric has moved to Phuket for the whole year, with his wife and child staying behind in Canada – a sacrifice he hopes will be worthwhile.
He also missed weight for the Mahmoudi fight, putting the blip down to only having four weeks’ notice – insisting it is impossible at his age to make it in such a short time.
“Mahmoudi is a young buck. I’m 40 this April. I’ve never taken any kind of substance, not for recovery. I barely even take supplements when I train,” Puric added.
“I really started getting on taking vitamins and minerals, since I’ve been with Coach Kobes [Shaun Kober], he’s really been educating me on this stuff especially at my age because I can't recover as fast as these guys.”