These days Andrew Tate is known for being the poster boy for toxic masculinity. Before he amassed an enormous fan following for his outspoken and misogynistic views the Englishman was a successful kickboxer.
He amassed a respectable 21-8 record although there have been some question marks as to the standard of his opposition. One man is clearly convinced about Tate’s kickboxing credentials and that is reigning ONE Championship flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson.
Johnson, who also held the UFC flyweight title, recently shared a video on YouTube in which he explains that,
“Prime Andrew Tate was a beast at kickboxing.”
Online backlash
This is not the first time Johnson has featured Tate one one of his YouTube videos. The MMA veteran clearly came in for some online backlash after suggesting that his kickboxing was not legit.
Johnson looked at a video of Tate’s final fight. He took on a teenage debutant called Cosmin Lingurar in Romania in 2020 and won with a second round stoppage that did not impress ‘DJ’.
He described at as a ‘huge mismatch’ although Johnson did acknowledge that ‘Tate’s kickboxing is legit’.
Army of fans
It seems Tate’s army of online fans were not impressed that Johnson had decided to only look at the kickboxer’s final fight. They encouraged him to analyze an earlier fight and that’s exactly what the former UFC flyweight champion did last week.
He watched Tate’s 2013 fight with Laszlo Szabo in London. This one went the distance with the Englishman, nicknamed ‘King Cobra’, claiming a unanimous decision win.
Johnson acknowledged that,
“It was a high level, competitive fight. The man is legit in kickboxing.”
GM. pic.twitter.com/zUfX1WINC0
— Andrew Tate (@Cobratate) November 6, 2023
More money
He does see some holes in Tate’s technique and comments that,
“He does a good job with the counters. I think the biggest thing that gets him in trouble is he stands right in front of the guy.”
Of course Tate has been far more successful as an online influencer than he was as a kickboxer. He is currently facing charges of rape and human trafficking in Romania where prosecutors gave some insight into the wealth he has acquired.
They seized goods and money worth 18 million lei ($3.95 million) from Tate and his brother. These included luxury watches and cars and it is is clear he was not able to amass this wealth by kickboxing.
“He had an amazing career but he’s making way more money telling people how to be more masculine.”
