Japanese star Yuya Wakamatsu “aiming for both wildness and intelligence” in pivotal clash against Gilbert Nakatani

Yuya Wakamatsu will stop at nothing from notching his third straight win when he steps back inside the ONE Championship ring.

The former world title challenger will face off against American slugger Gilbert Nakatani on the stacked ONE Fight Night 26 card on December 6, US primetime, at the historic Lumpinee Stadium.

Taking to Instagram, Wakamatsu showed his strength and conditioning routine with his coach Horie Toshiyuki while promising to unleash calculated violence against Nakatani.

Yuya Wakamatsu wrote:

"Seventeen days left until the final battle. Horie-san's physical training 🏋️‍♀️ Aiming for both wildness and intelligence ☯️"

Wakamatsu, who once challenged for the ONE flyweight MMA world title, is coming off two consecutive wins over Filipino star Danny Kingad and China's Xie Wei.

A natural striker, Wakamatsu showed a relentless drive when he met Xie in their Bangkok showdown at ONE Fight Night 12.

Wakamatsu was an overwhelming presence against Xie and he battered the Chinese standout with vicious ground-and-pound to take the first-round technical knockout win.

He then secured a hard-fought unanimous decision win over old nemesis Danny Kingad at ONE 165 in his hometown of Tokyo.

With the ONE flyweight MMA world title remaining vacant, a third-straight win for Wakamatsu could put him closer to the throne Demetrious Johnson vacated due to retirement.

Wakamatsu's pivotal matchup against Nakatani, and the entire ONE Fight Night 26 card are available live and free to all Prime Video subscribers in the United States and Canada.

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Reece McLaren picks Yuya Wakamatsu to take down Gilbert Nakatani at ONE Fight Night 26

If there's one man who knows what it's like to face the best version of Yuya Wakamatsu, it's Reece McLaren.

The Australian submission expert fell short in his previous matchup against Wakamatsu at ONE on TNT III in 2023, and he believes 'Little Piranha' would leave Bangkok with a solid victory over Gilbert Nakatani.

McLaren told Sportskeeda MMA:

"I think Yuya will win that. I think out of all of us, he's one of the more well-improved. I think he had lots of room to improve, and he's made those improvements. Man, Yuya has impressed me."

As for McLaren, 'Lightning' will face ONE interim strawweight MMA world champion Jarred Brooks at ONE Fight Night 26.