Ben Tynan meets Ryugo Takeuchi in a heavyweight MMA bout at ONE Fight Night 40 on February 13 at Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, with both fighters seeking to rebound from recent setbacks.
The 31-year-old Canadian wrestling specialist and the 22-year-old Japanese striker each enter the matchup looking to restore momentum after losses interrupted their early ONE Championship trajectories.
Tynan arrived in ONE Championship with an undefeated professional record built on elite wrestling credentials that included a Canadian Junior National Title and competition at the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships. His promotional debut at ONE Fight Night 16 in November 2023 validated the hype when he dominated Kang Ji Won across two rounds before securing an arm-triangle choke in the third, earning a $50,000 performance bonus for the finish.
The winning continued at ONE Fight Night 21 in April 2024 when Tynan stopped Duke Didier via first-round TKO, though the result was later changed to a no-contest. His perfect record ended at ONE Fight Night 34 last August when Kirill Grishenko handed him his first career defeat. The former interim heavyweight title challenger entered that contest with a two-fight winning streak and proved too experienced for the Canadian on that evening.
Takeuchi carries his own recent disappointment into February's matchup after absorbing a loss to Shamil Erdogan in front of his home crowd at ONE 173 in Tokyo last November. The Japanese fighter had rebounded impressively from an April 2025 TKO loss to Paul Elliott by demolishing Kang in 98 seconds at ONE Fight Night 34, but the Erdogan setback in Japan tested his resolve heading into the new year.
The matchup presents a stylistic contrast between Tynan's wrestling foundation and Takeuchi's striking background. The Canadian's grappling credentials established at the highest levels of amateur wrestling provide him with a clear path to controlling exchanges if he can close distance against an opponent whose power striking has produced quick finishes when fights remain standing.
Takeuchi's knockout of Kang demonstrated his ability to end fights rapidly when opponents fail to pressure him effectively, but his two ONE Championship losses came against fighters who successfully implemented game plans suited to neutralizing his stand-up advantages.
The February contest will test whether the young Japanese striker has developed defensive improvements after consecutive setbacks, or if Tynan's wrestling will prove overwhelming once the fight hits the mat.
