Ten promotional wins, a 2025 ONE MMA Fighter of the Year award, and one loss that changed everything. Those are the numbers shaping former ONE Flyweight MMA World Champion Yuya Wakamatsu's return to action this Saturday, September 12, when he meets Willie van Rooyen in the co-main event of ONE SAMURAI 3 at Yokohama Buntai in Yokohama, Japan.
Van Rooyen enters with a stellar 8-1 record and a switch-hitting striking arsenal that produced a come-from-behind TKO over Jeremy Miado at ONE Fight Night 41 this past March, a sharp stylistic contrast to Wakamatsu's own explosive, one-punch finishing power.
The single blemish on Van Rooyen's record is what has commanded Wakamatsu's attention above all else. Reigning ONE Flyweight MMA World Champion Avazbek Kholmirzaev dismantled the South African in his promotional debut, the same man who took the belt from Wakamatsu at ONE SAMURAI 1 in April. Whoever wins Saturday's clash could find himself in line for a rematch with the man who beat them both.
"He's only got one loss, and that's the main fight I have to look at," Wakamatsu said. "He's a super dangerous guy, especially his striking. It's excellent. And he's got a strong mentality too."
Wakamatsu's 10 promotional victories have built a reputation around a specific style, and the 31-year-old plans to abandon that blueprint entirely against Van Rooyen. Instead of leaning on the killer instinct that once made him a titleholder, he intends to unleash chain wrestling and suffocating top pressure to drag his younger opponent into deep waters.
"Everyone expects Wakamatsu to fight a certain way," he said. "But on fight night, I want them to go, 'What the hell is this style?!' I want to look like a completely different animal compared to my last fight."
The loss of his title still weighs on him daily, a constant reminder of the ground he has to make up before any rematch conversation can begin.
"I am completely obsessed with getting that ONE belt back," he said. "Literally the day after that loss, it became a daily battle against the fear of, 'Do I still have what it takes to get there?'"
Van Rooyen is simply the first number on a longer ledger Wakamatsu intends to settle.
"My goal going forward – first, on September 12th, I'm going to brutally finish Willie Van Rooyen. Whether it's later this year or next year, I want that rematch and I want to put him out."
