Hiroki Akimoto ready to leave a mark in stacked ONE Friday Fights 81 line-up: "Outshine everyone"

Hiroki Akimoto knows that he needs to have a statement performance to be back in contention for the throne he once occupied.

Luckily for the former bantamweight kickboxing world champion, ONE Friday Fights 81: Superbon vs Nattawut is the perfect avenue to make a case for 26 pounds of gold.

The Japanese superstar will take on the returning Ilias Ennahachi in a three-round slugfest as part of the massive striking extravaganza at Bangkok's Lumpinee Stadium this coming Friday, Sept. 27.

The prestige of this blockbuster event is not lost on Akimoto, who expressed how honored he is to share a card with some of the best strikers in the world.

Then again, the 32-year-old said he'll take this opportunity to remind everyone that he's still at the top of his game. Akimoto told ONE in an exclusive interview:

"Other fighters from Japan like Takeru and Ogasawara are also scheduled to fight, and famous Thai fighters like Superbon, Nong-O, and Sam-A will be there too. I intend to have a great fight and outshine everyone."

Hiroki Akimoto, who's on the heels of a two-fight slump, would love nothing more than to get back to his winning ways.

Indeed, all will be forgiven if the Evolve MMA product scores an empathic victory over a fellow former champion.

Hiroki Akimoto says he already found Ilias Ennahachi's weakness

So far, nobody has found a flaw in Ilias Ennahachi's attacks's gameplan, evidenced by his perfect 4-0 run in the world's largest martial arts organization.

Even the now two-weight and two-sport world champion Superlek Kiatmoo9 fell short against the Morrocan tactician.

Hiroki Akimoto, though, is confident he can exploit what he perceives as a hole in the former flyweight kickboxing king's armor. He told ONE:

"I can't go into details, but I think he has quite a few weaknesses. If we can target those properly, I believe we can win."

ONE Friday Fights 81 will air live in Asian Primetime via watch.onefc.com.