Nico “The Steel City Kid” Cornejo is ready to make waves in his promotional debut on September 6 in U.S. primetime at ONE 168: Denver. The fighter used combat sports as a way t keep his head high and now he will be debuting in the biggest martial arts arena.

That night, the Colorado native will square off with teenage standout Adrian “The Phenom” Lee in a lightweight MMA tilt at Ball Arena. In his most recent escapade, Cornejo has come forward to explain what he is thinking about his career.

Nico Cornejo embraces big stage opportunity against Lee at ONE 168

For the 34-year-old Cornejo, the opportunity to compete on ONE’s massive global platform – in front of a raucous Colorado crowd – represents a dream come true. Undefeated as both a professional and amateur, he likely knew he’d eventually get the call to the big leagues, but that doesn’t make his signing with ONE any less exciting.

He looked back on how he felt when ONE officials offered him the fight against “The Phenom”: “I was taken aback. I really was choked up on words. Excited. Nervous. Scared. You know, happy. And just everything that I’ve put in, my blood, sweat, and tears. Literally, blood, sweat, and tears. To finally have someone take notice, I never thought ONE would, but man, I am blessed.”

Cornejo admits to feeling plenty of pressure ahead of ONE 168. His opponent, Lee, is the younger brother of reigning two-division ONE MMA World Champion Christian “The Warrior” Lee and former atomweight MMA queen Angela Lee, and brings with him loads of well-deserved hype.

Cornejo is relishing being Pueblo’s first major fighter signing

What’s more, “The Steel City Kid” feels the weight of Colorado’s hopes riding on his shoulders. But, even with all that pressure surrounding him, he’s confident he’ll perform at his best when the lights are the brightest.

He added: “I am the first fighter out of Pueblo to be signed to a major organization like ONE. I’ve already got a lot riding on me. I’ve already got a lot of eyes looking up to me, not only in my kids.”

He further added, “I got our youth kids in our gym excited. I got their parents who already bought tickets for the fight. So I got a lot of eyes on me, and one thing I can say for certain is I do perform under pressure. I perform well under pressure and I’m no stranger to big lights on me, so I’m just excited.”