After three rounds of an electrifying fight at ONE Championship’s ONE Friday Fights 75 Muay Thai event on August 16 in Bangkok, Thailand, Israeli fighter Shir Cohen emerged victorious over Chilean opponent Francesca Vera by unanimous decision.
ONE Championship is a combat sports promotion company, similar to the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). It is the largest such company in Asia, and, on its website, describes itself as “the world’s largest martial arts organization.”
At 5-foot-2 (1.57m) and 115 pounds (52kg), Cohen fights in the strawweight division. While she has been involved in martial arts for quite a while in Israel, first being introduced to the sport when she was 15, her first official fight was in March, when Cohen beat Bulgarian foe Teodora Kirilova with a second-round TKO in their atomweight bout. That victory set the stage for the duel with Vera, and the victory puts Cohen’s record at a perfect 2-0.
Speaking to The Jerusalem Post, Cohen shared her deep motivation for the win, both for herself and her people.
“I started with kickboxing and boxing in my hometown of Tiberias. At age 21 I actually reached my highest accomplishment ever, which was a gold medal in the World Games. After that, I felt like I needed some change. and I wanted to do something else.
“I always had this dream to go from an amateur sport to pro. And after the World games, I thought, okay, maybe that’s the time I will go give it a shot in Thailand. I just want to try it. I started Muay Thai for the first time two and a half years ago. That’s it. I just fell in love with it.”
This month, the now-23-year-old Israeli entered the ring wearing a Star of David necklace and waved to the crowd. Reflecting on her mindset before the fight, she said, “I was focused on what I should do for this fight and on how much I really needed this win. I really wanted it – not only for myself but for my people in Israel, my country, my family.”
Cohen set the tone early in the first round with a right kick to Vera’s thigh. As they exchanged kicks, Cohen quickly proved to be the more active fighter, darting in and out while keeping up the pressure with a mix of punches, kicks, elbows, and knees.
“I felt like I should score more, I should hit more, I should punch and kick more because knocking her down wouldn’t be easy,” Cohen explained. “She’s very strong. She’s very tough.”
In the second round, Cohen continued her dominance with powerful combinations – jabs, hooks, uppercuts, and overhand strikes. Blood appeared on both fighters, but Vera, nicknamed “Miss Scarface,” appeared worse for wear. Despite Vera’s resilience, she struggled to capitalize on her size advantage.
As the third round progressed, Vera landed an elbow that cut Cohen’s face, but the Israeli’s response was even fiercer.
“I think there’s a fear every fighter has when they get cut,” Cohen noted. “Because if you get cut, even if it’s not something really big or meaningful, some judges can see it as a bad thing or tell the doctor to stop the fight.”
Despite the cut, Cohen maintained a high pace and clean technique, ending the fight with the same intensity she began with.
“It’s just my style,” she said. “I use long combinations – high pressure, high pace. I train speed and stamina a lot. I train with high intensity, you know, and the way I train is the way I fight.”
As the fighters awaited the judges’ decision, Cohen stood with one fist raised, confident in the outcome. The unanimous decision awarded her the victory. With a smile, Cohen hugged Vera, took a sip of water, and exited the ring.
What comes next?
What’s next for Cohen, who is currently living and training in Thailand?
“To just keep going with a winning streak,” Cohen exclaimed. “Keep winning and slowly go up in the rankings until I get to the championship, to the belt.”
Cohen expressed that her drive reflects the spirit of Israelis and Jews worldwide.
“I think that, in general, Israeli people have some fire inside of them; to fight for their people, for their country,” she said. “Not only Israelis, every Jewish person in the world.”
Cohen described this sentiment as something she grew up with in Tiberias.
“There’s something really strong inside of our hearts that drives us to do for our country,” she added. “I do it in sport, but this is just one example. Everyone does it in their own way, and in the last year, this feeling to protect my country and fight for my country became stronger.”