“It didn’t bring out my style” - Bokang Masunyane regrets not pushing for the finish in previous fight vs Keito Yamakita

Bokang Masunyane always prided himself on his aggression and explosiveness, but there was one match he regretted not relying on his natural excitement.

The South African dynamo, in his words, had one of his most lackluster wins when he secured a unanimous decision victory over Keito Yamakita at ONE 165 in January this year.

Masunyane said in an interview with ONE Championship that he didn't fight according to his style and was more focused on securing a win than finishing Yamakita in Tokyo.

He said:

"In my last fight, I worked without using my pressure, just working from the outside because I knew my opponent had good striking and a good overall game so I was able to read his style and adjust my style. But it didn’t bring out my style more because I was trying to beat him but not trying to finish him."

Bokang Masunyane figured in a grapple-heavy matchup against Yamakita in their matchup, and the number two strawweight MMA contender felt he was unable to showcase his entire arsenal in the fight.

Nevertheless, Masunyane has a chance to finally release that pent-up energy when he takes on fifth-ranked strawweight MMA contender Mansur Malachiev.

Masunyane's pivotal bout against Malachiev goes down at ONE Fight Night 25 this Friday, US primetime, at the historic Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok.

While he and Malachiev are natural grapplers, Masunyane believes he can still put on a show-stopping performance against the Russian wrestling machine.

ONE Fight Night 25, just like all of ONE Championship's Amazon cards, is available live and free to all Prime Video subscribers in the United States and Canada.

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Bokang Masunyane believes he has a better grappling skill set than Mansur Malachiev

It's often said that styles make fights, and Bokang Masunyane is confident his matchup against Mansur Malachiev has the potential to be a barnburner.

Masunyane said in the same interview with ONE Championship that although he and Malachiev are both grapplers, he has the better ground game to subdue the Dagestani star.

'Little Giant' added that he could also rely on striking to throw Malachiev off his game.

He said:

"What I truly believe is that our styles of wrestling could kind of cancel each other out because we're similar, but I feel like my style is much more superior. There's much more tools and much more ammo in my wrestling skills. I've also worked on my stand-up skills with tweaks."