Costa Rican veteran Ariel “Tarzan” Sexton has been on quite the tear in ONE Championship.

The 37-year-old Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Champion has won four of his last five outings in the promotion, and now finds himself as a participant in the ONE Lightweight World Grand Prix, along with seven other top-notch contenders.

At ONE: CALL TO GREATNESS on Friday, 22 February at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, Sexton faces hometown hero and former World Title challenger Amir Khan in the quarter-finals of the tournament.

Sexton sees his inclusion in the tournament as a testament to all the hard work he has put in over the years.

“I’ve been working hard in ONE for the last five years to get my opportunity to fight for the belt. Now, there’s no place for anyone to run and hide,” Sexton proclaimed.

“Once I win these fights, becoming the Grand Prix World Champion is only going to solidify [my position] and get me to my goal that I’ve been working so hard towards.”

The Renzo Gracie-trained talent also understands that being tapped as one of the best means the road does not get any easier.

To be able to claim the ONE Lightweight World Grand Prix Championship, Sexton will need to take care of business against Khan, and then potentially against Ev Ting or Saygid Arslanaliev, and then, finally, Lowen Tynanes, Timofey Nastyukhin, or Eddie Alvarez.

Not exactly a walk in the park, but Sexton knew what he was getting into when he got the call.

“When they selected me to take part in the Grand Prix, I knew it was going to be hard,” he said. “All the guys are elite, world-class, and dangerous, and they all deserve to be there, so I feel honored to be selected.”

Right off the bat, Sexton will need to face a top contender in Khan, who challenged for the ONE Lightweight World Title back in November.

“Amir Khan is a world-class fighter. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be coming off a World Title shot, and he wouldn’t be in this tournament,” Sexton said.

Sexton believes his experience will be his biggest advantage over Khan, who is 13 years his junior.

The Costa Rican has over a decade of experience in mixed martial arts, and even more in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

“He’s a very dangerous striker, but luckily I have a lot of experience of coming against high-level strikers,” Sexton explained.

“I have a lot of experience against high-level everything. I don’t think he’s had the time to catch up yet in some areas. Imagine how much training I’ve done in that time.”

The veteran believes he has put in the right amount of work and preparation to come out on top at ONE: CALL TO GREATNESS.

“I don’t leave things to chance, so I’ve prepared properly. As long as I’ve done my homework, statistics show exactly the type of win I’m going to get that night,” he mentioned.

“It’s going to be a wild fight, it’s going to be fun, and I know that I’ll come out with my submission.”