MMA
Yuya Wakamatsu Plans To Finish Kim Kyu Sung, Challenge Former Rival Kingad
Yuya “Little Piranha” Wakamatsu will attempt to work his way up ONE Championship’s flyweight rankings this Friday.
The #4-ranked contender will battle Kim Kyu Sung at ONE: INSIDE THE MATRIX Ⅱ, which was previously recorded at the Singapore Indoor Stadium and airs on 6 November.
Wakamatsu has been adding to his skill set during the COVID-19 layoff, and he’s looking forward to unleashing those developments against his next challenger.
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“He’s the tallest opponent I’ve ever fought,” Wakamatsu says of Kim.
“He moves beautifully. He has beautiful form and striking – or beautiful, smart boxing, I should say. I get the impression that he’s very sharp.
“I saw that he’s not an easy opponent. He’s tall, and he’s going to put a lot of pressure on me.”
Whether Kim applies pressure or not, Wakamatsu will be ready. In fact, he believes he’s better in almost every realm of mixed martial arts.
“I can say that I’m superior in all areas, except for the height,” the Japanese stars says.
“I heard that his ground game is good, but I also have strong ground skills. I am ready to take whatever he has. I know he is also studying me, but I want to move faster and stronger and show punches he’s never seen.”
Come Friday, Wakamatsu doesn’t just want to win – he wants to crush Kim’s will to compete.
“The best-case scenario is I won’t let the opponent do anything and overpower him so much that he throws in the towel,” Wakamatsu says.
“I want to win by not letting him touch my body, and I want to break his motivation to fight. I want to make him think he can’t win no matter what he does and aim for a KO, where I see him falling with a disappointed look on his face.”
Most athletes don’t look ahead of their opponents until they secure a win, but the confident Wakamatsu can’t help himself.
“I’ve got some guys I want to beat,” he says, “and I need a couple more wins to be in a World Title fight. I want to beat [Danny] Kingad because I’ve lost against him once, and I want revenge.”
Catch Wakamatsu in action at ONE: INSIDE THE MATRIX II this Friday, 6 November, by downloading the ONE Super App. Or tune in to meWATCH at 8:30 p.m. Singapore Standard Time (SGT). Also, Channel 5 will cut into the broadcast at 10 p.m. SGT.
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