“Grateful for everything” - Yuya Wakamatsu thanks his supporters for their love following ONE 172 world title win over Adriano Moraes

Yuya Wakamatsu has finally stepped on the mountaintop, and he knew he would not have reached that height if not for his strong support system.

The Japanese star captured the vacant ONE flyweight MMA world title when he stopped Adriano Moraes at ONE 172 in front of his hometown fans at the hallowed Saitama Super Arena this Sunday.

Wakamatsu was in fine form in his world title rematch against the former flyweight MMA king and ended the fight with a vicious ground-and-pound sequence 3:39 into the opening round.

In his recent Instagram post, Wakamatsu thanked his supporters for lifting his spirits as he prepared for the biggest fight of his career. He posted:

"On March 23rd, I was able to become the champion. I'm grateful for everything. This is just a quick update. It's all thanks to everyone's support. Thank you so much."

Wakamatsu, a natural striker, took the fight to Moraes early into the fight and was quick to defend the Brazilian constrictor's takedown attempts.

'Little Piranha' was light on his feet and constantly bothered Moraes with his counters and snappy boxing.

Using his boxing and general ringwork, Wakamatsu pinned Moraes near the corner and unloaded a barrage of strikes that forced referee Herb Dean to stop the match and send the Japanese crowd into pandemonium.

The victory marked Wakamatsu's fourth straight win, and his ninth overall in his ONE Championship career.

Wakamatsu also exacted revenge on Moraes after he lost to 'Mikinho' at ONE X when he first took a shot at the ONE flyweight MMA world title in March 2022 in Singapore.

Fans who purchased the pay-per-view can watch replays of ONE 172 on-demand at watch.onefc.com.

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Yuya Wakamatsu admits pressure got the better of him in his first fight against Adriano Moraes

Yuya Wakamatsu knew he wasn't in his best mental space the first time he challenged for the ONE flyweight MMA world championship.

In a previous interview with ONE Championship, Wakamatsu said the atmosphere and pressure got the better of him when he faced Adriano Moraes for the gold at ONE X.

"It was such a huge event, so I felt even more pressure. And I brought that mindset into the fight. I lost to my own weakness, that was exactly how I felt."