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Leandro Ataides hopes to start the year right with a win in ONE Championship. 'Leo' is set to battle veteran fighter Yushin Okami in the upcoming Heavy Hitters fight card this January 14. Ataides is very much aware of how dangerous his opponent can be even at the age of 40.
Ataides is coming off back-to-back losses against Reinier de Ridder and Aung La Nsang. The Brazilian fighter has learned lessons from his past defeats and is pumped to test his skills against Okami in their ONE Championship matchup.
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Meanwhile, 'Thunder' has 36 victories under his name and has competed in 50 professional bouts. The Japanese fighter had a hard time picking up a win in his first two fights in ONE Championship. However, he stopped the losing streak with a win over Agilan Thani back in October 2019.
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Looking forward to their bout, Ataides knows that Okami is going to have a plethora of weapons at his disposal when they step inside the ONE Championship cage. The 35-year-old fighter wants to test his improved grappling skills in this matchup.
“Okami doesn’t have one style. He has so many styles in his fights. He is a complete fighter – good striking, good grappling, good everywhere,” Ataides said. “We don’t know what we can expect in this fight, so I just have to go into him and do my best. This time, I really want to use my Brazilian jiu-jitsu game. I always want to show this, but now I really put 100 percent into it because this is my background, my natural reaction, what I grew up with.”
In order to lure Okami to the ground, 'Leo' plans to use his stand-up game and allow Okami to attempt a take down.
“I might have to set him up with my striking to take him down. But if he takes me down, I feel really fine with that. I can work very well and control the fight with my BJJ,” said Ataides.
Leandro Ataides wants a submission victory over Yushin Okami at ONE Championship: Heavy Hitters
Yushin Okami has been known as a striker with a decent grappling game. Assessing his competition ahead of their ONE Championship bout, Leandro Ataides sees himself as having an advantage on the ground. He hopes to secure a submission victory against the veteran.
If his calculations are correct and Okami falls into Ataides' trap, the Brazilian fighter feels that the fight will end by the second round at the most.
“I’m going to submit him, and it’ll be finished by the second round or the end of the first round. I see that. But you never know – with two big guys and the big show, anything can happen.”
