{"id":196537,"date":"2025-10-08T03:30:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-08T03:30:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/196537\/"},"modified":"2025-10-08T03:30:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-08T03:30:07","slug":"yuya-wakamatsu-embraces-do-or-die-mentality-ill-fight-as-if-its-my-last","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/196537\/","title":{"rendered":"Yuya Wakamatsu embraces do-or-die mentality: “I’ll fight as if it’s my last”"},"content":{"rendered":"

For Yuya Wakamatsu, defending his ONE Flyweight MMA World Title carries stakes that transcend sport \u2014 failure simply isn\u2019t survivable in his mind.<\/p>\n

Wakamatsu defends his strap against Joshua Pacio at ONE 173: Superbon vs. Noiri<\/a> on Sunday, November 16, inside Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan. The 30-year-old Japanese fighter makes his first title defense against the reigning strawweight king in a rare champion-versus-champion clash.<\/p>\n

Most fighters treat championships as career milestones. Wakamatsu treats his like oxygen \u2014 absolutely essential for survival. That extreme mentality drove him through crushing defeats against legends like Demetrious Johnson and Adriano Moraes before finally breaking through.<\/p>\n

His March victory over Moraes at ONE 172 validated years of sacrifice. The first-round TKO inside Saitama Super Arena gave Japan a new flyweight king while erasing memories of their 2022 encounter that ended in submission defeat. Everything clicked perfectly that night when stakes mattered most.<\/p>\n

Reality still feels surreal months later. Wakamatsu sometimes forgets he wears gold until someone reminds him. But that mental disconnect doesn\u2019t soften his approach. He enters every fight prepared to die rather than lose what he spent his lifetime pursuing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to prove ONE\u2019s flyweight [division] is the best in the world. That\u2019s why I absolutely cannot lose. For me, losing basically equals death. I\u2019ll fight as if it\u2019s my last,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to inspire fans with courage and hope. I want to put my entire way of life into those 25 minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Yuya Wakamatsu views championship as platform for inspiration<\/p>\n

Gold means more than personal glory for Yuya Wakamatsu. The Tribe Tokyo MMA product sees his championship reign<\/a> as fuel for others chasing impossible dreams.<\/p>\n

Japan\u2019s combat sports culture demands excellence while celebrating warriors who give everything inside the ring. Wakamatsu embodies that spirit through his relentless approach. His journey from struggling contender to champion proves dedication eventually overcomes talent gaps and unfortunate timing.<\/p>\n

Joshua Pacio brings legitimate danger to Tokyo. The Filipino star seeks history as his nation\u2019s first two-division MMA champion after dominating strawweight competition for years. He captured that throne multiple times, always bouncing back from devastating setbacks with championship-level performances.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the March event, everything just came together. I was at my peak, and I captured the title at that moment. It was truly the best moment of my life. The biggest change is that I now carry the title of champion. I\u2019ve also gained confidence. One of my dreams came true, and it feels like I\u2019ve started a new chapter,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes I just think, \u2018Oh right, I\u2019m the champion.\u2019 I forget I\u2019m the champion. But my mindset hasn\u2019t really changed. Honestly, it still doesn\u2019t feel real to me. I\u2019ve always felt pressure, because I fight thinking, \u2018If I lose, it\u2019s over.\u2019 So in the end, all I can do is fight with everything I have.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf people see me giving everything in the fight and think, \u2018Wow, that\u2019s amazing. I want to try too. I can do it too,\u2019 then honestly, that\u2019s enough for me.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know he\u2019ll come at me ready to risk everything, and I want to show the fans a true war.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For Yuya Wakamatsu, defending his ONE Flyweight MMA World Title carries stakes that transcend sport \u2014 failure simply…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":61281,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[444],"tags":[49,48,641,638,33503,1865,82,39946],"class_list":{"0":"post-196537","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mma","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-fighting","11":"tag-mma","12":"tag-one-173","13":"tag-one-championship","14":"tag-sports","15":"tag-yuya-wakamatsu"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196537","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=196537"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196537\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61281"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=196537"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=196537"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=196537"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}