Leandro Ataides might have a whole list of things he would love to achieve this year, but as far as his career is concerned, the Brazilian fighter only has one goal.
The 2022 ambition is to send Yushin Okami into retirement when they face off in a middleweight bout at ONE: Heavy Hitters on Friday, January 14.
In an Instagram post from the promotion yesterday, Leandro Ataides dropped his New Year’s resolution. It seems he is rather serious about his mission to finish off the Japanese MMA veteran.
“My New Year's resolution is to unleash a highlight-reel KO on Okami and send him to retirement.”
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Leandro Ataides’ opponent turns 41 in July this year. While many athletes began to think about retirement a couple of years before they turn 40, Okami remains keen to bolster his 50-fight resume.
The Brazilian, however, wants to make his opponent re-think that decision. Aside from that, Leandro Ataides eyes a return to winning ways after falling short in his last two outings in ONE.
In February 2020, Leandro Ataides lost to Reinier de Ridder via unanimous decision. Then, at ONE: Battleground in July last year, he suffered his fifth career loss to former division king Aung La Nsang.
He has worked tremendously hard on his weaknesses over the past seven month and he is prepared to show the world why he should still be considered one of the major forces in the middleweight division.
The five-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion boasts a 11-5 professional slate. Despite grappling being one of his greatest assets, Leandro Ataides is still without a submission win in the promotion. However, his striking arsenal has led him to four knockout wins in 10 ONE appearances.
Leandro Ataides’ journey in ONE so far
Leandro Ataides made his promotional debut way back in November 2013. The 35-year-old arrived as an undefeated fighter with a 6-0 resume. He extended that streak with a couple of victories versus Brayan Rafiq and Tatsuya Mizuno.
Things went downhill for the Brazilian in the three fights that followed. However, he bounced back to the winning column with three successive wins against Mohamed Ali, Michal Pasternak and former ONE middleweight world champion Vitaly Bigdash.
Though he is riding a two-fight losing skid to De Ridder and Aung La Nsang, Leandro Ataides’ seems to spring out some of his most memorable wins following defeats.
One perfect example of that was his second-round flying knee finish against Ali, which was ONE’s 2016 Knockout of the Year.