“I was unable to overcome myself” - Yuya Wakamatsu admits loss to Adriano Moraes still stings even to this day

Yuya Wakamatsu took his first loss to Adriano Moraes very hard. The 30-year-old Tribe Tokyo MMA veteran said he had to do some serious soul-searching after the 2022 submission loss to recover from the physical and mental ordeal.

Speaking to ONE Championship in a recent interview, Wakamatsu talked about the emotions he felt in his first defeat to Moraes three years ago.

'Little Piranha' said:

"Yes, it was such a huge event then, so I felt pressured more than usual, and I brought that mindset to the fight. This is what I can say now, looking back at that time. The reason for my loss was really that I was unable to overcome myself, that’s all. That was the reason."

Wakamatsu first met Moraes at the historic ONE X in March of 2022, where he dropped a third-round submission loss to the former ONE flyweight MMA world champion.

Now, the two are ready to run it back in the biggest event of the year, in front of Wakamatsu's hometown crowd.

Yuya Wakamatsu runs it back with Brazilian rival Adriano Moraes for vacant ONE world title at ONE 172 in Japan

Yuya Wakamatsu is confident he can finally get the job done against Adriano Moraes when the two trade leather next weekend.

Wakamatsu and Moraes compete for the vacant ONE flyweight MMA world title at ONE 172: Takeru vs. Rodtang, which will broadcast live from the iconic Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan on Sunday, March 23rd.

Fans in the United States and Canada can catch all the action live via global pay-per-view on watch.onefc.com.

Stay tuned to Sportskeeda MMA for all the latest news and updates surrounding Yuya Wakamatsu's next fight.