Francisco Lo had become well-acquainted with humanity’s dark side long before he made martial arts his chosen profession. His childhood was anything but traditional.

“I grew up without a father,” he told Sherdog.com. “I was raised by my mother and grandmother. My father was an alcoholic. All my half-siblings on my father’s side came to a bad ending. Some ended up as drug addicts, and others were killed. One brother unfortunately died of drowning when he was drunk, which is the same thing that happened to my father. I grew up without much connection with that side of my family, other than an aunt and an uncle.”

Brazilian jiu-jitsu provided Lo with the outlet he needed, an avenue through which he could process all the pain and difficulty life had foisted upon him. He was forced to grow up fast.

“I started training jiu-jitsu at 10 years old,” he said. “Some street friends with whom I’d play soccer used to beat me up. I took it up for personal defense. A friend brought me over to train, and I ended up falling in love with the sport. At first, my mother didn’t allow me to train, so I’d run away to be able to do it. My mom would spank me for running away because she didn’t know where I’d been.”

Lo’s persistence paid off, and he found additional incentive to move forward with his training in the competitive adversity he encountered initially. His doubters were many.

“I kept earning belts. By my orange belt, I still didn’t have support from my family,” Lo said. “I wasn’t a talented athlete. I’d lose every tournament. In my mind, I was the worst orange or green belt in the world. I think what gave me the most motivation to stay in the sport was that people kept saying that I had no talent, that I wouldn’t go far and that I was too soft. I kept growing in the sport, dedicating all I had to be better.”

Now 23 years of age, Lo will make his ONE Championship debut when he meets Kade Ruotolo in a 180-pound submission grappling showcase at ONE on Prime Video 21 on April 6 at Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand. While Ruotolo captured the promotion’s lightweight submission grappling championship in October, his title will not be on the line.

“It’s a catchweight because I can’t drop all the way down to his weight, but it’s still a challenge,” Lo said. “I don’t usually drop weight this far for a match. My usual weight is 185 pounds. The weight loss is going well. Hopefully, everything will go well so I can challenge his brother Tye Ruotolo for his [welterweight] belt in my normal weight class.”

Lo aims to push the 2022 Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Fighting World Championship gold medalist to the limit.

“I plan to keep chasing subs instead of stalling,” he said. “I want to put on a show. I want to submit him if possible. He’s very tough. I know that he loves putting on shows, and so do I. The fans will love it. Without a doubt, we’ll get a ‘Fight of the Night’ bonus.”