Yuki Yoza ONE Friday Fights 109: "He's a dawg" - Fans applaud Japanese sensation Yuki Yoza's unparalleled tenacity in stellar ONE Championship debut

Decorated Japanese kickboxing megastar Yuki Yoza has ONE Championship fans singing his praises following a scintillating promotional debut at ONE Friday Fights 109 on May 23.

The 27-year-old competed in a bantamweight kickboxing bout against Elbrus Osmanov, who was seeking his seventh victory in the highly competitive ONE Friday Fights circuit.

Instead of taking a big step closer towards earning himself a six-figure main roster contract with ONE, Yoza gifted 'The Samurai' with a three-round thrashing en route to a unanimous decision victory.

The promotion shared the former K-1 Kickboxing lightweight king's perfectly timed sweep of Osmanov that resulted in the Russian standout crashing hard to the canvas on Instagram.

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Check out the move below:

Fans flocked to the comments section to give Yoza his flowers, writing:

"He's a dawg and he fights people his size 🔥💯"

"Most impressive was that he managed to still block a solid head kick that could have changed everything if it didn't get blocked. Even with the sweep, if no block could've been a ko. So impressive that he maintained great form and technique."

"He knows everything 😲😲😂"

"He's good! That it's! 🙌"

"Pure art! ❤️‍🔥"

Screenshot of comments. [ONE Championship/Instagram]

Yuki Yoza not downplaying nervous feelings before ONE Championship debut

While Yuki Yoza looked extremely comfortable in the ONE Circle in his first outing, he was not afraid to admit that he felt nervous ahead of ONE Friday Fights 109.

The Team Vasileus athlete said as much in his post-fight vlog, which he posted on his YouTube channel:

"Maybe it's because I've been looking really good recently before fights. Maybe it's because I have a lot of confidence in myself. Of course, there are always going to be anxieties, but I overcome them with my confidence and the excitement of being in ONE."

Watch the entire video below:

About the author

Karl has been an MMA writer at Sportskeeda since 2023. He holds a Bachelor of Arts major in history, which helps him pay attention to the finer details while writing, and also has first-hand experience in boxing. He has a total experience of 5 years, and has worked for the International Business Times.

Karl turned into an MMA fan back in 2011 after watching Tito Ortiz defeat Ryan Bader via first-round submission at UFC 132. He has interviewed ONE world champions like Eduard Folayang, Joshua Pacio, Stamp Fairtex, and Tawanchai in his career so far.

On the non-MMA side of things, he interviewed WWE superstar Matt Riddle in 2021 and his question about Roman Reigns elicited an interesting answer which was widely covered by outlets like Sportskeeda and Cultaholic Wrestling's YouTube channel. He has also interviewed NBA stars Dwight Howard, Nick Young, Andre Roberson, Shabazz Muhammad, Jason Williams and Brian Scalabrine plus Filipino women's volleyball star Alyssa Valdez.

Karl ensures to double-check facts before using them in articles, and reads up on potential topics for pieces a day before. In his off time, he likes to play video games, and keep up with basketball and pro wrestling.

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Edited by Tejas Rathi