“As a champion, I take it as a challenge. I love challenges, so I’ll go all out to shut his mouth” – Adriano Moraes plans to close out beef with Yuya Wakamatsu

Adriano Moraes listened to his upcoming opponent Yuya Wakamatsu, and now the ONE flyweight world champion plans to stop all the talk and get to what he's at the promotion to do – fight.

In an interview with ONE Championship, the Brazilian star said that he enjoyed Wakamatsu’s trash talk, as it comes with the territory of being the champion.

That said, Moraes will relish the opportunity to silence the No.2-ranked flyweight contender at ONE X, ONE Championship’s 10-year anniversary show, going live this Saturday from the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

‘Mikinho’ said:

“The callouts don’t bother me. When you are champion, these things happen. Everyone wants your head. Everyone wants the title, as that is the main objective of fighters. As a champion, I take it as a challenge. I love challenges, so I’ll go all out to shut his mouth.

“He’s a tough fighter but, come on, isn’t this what he wanted? Now, the time has come for him to get what he’s always asked for.”

Wakamatsu has been aggressive in his trash talk leading up to ONE X, promising to bring a world of hurt down on Moraes, but the champion has laughed off the challenger’s callouts.

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Adriano Moraes knew fighting Wakamatsu was inevitable

Wakamatsu did enough to put himself into title contention after winning five straight fights between 2019 and the end of 2021.

Adriano Moraes, meanwhile, is ONE Championship’s first flyweight world champion and has reveled in every opportunity to hold onto the belt.

His bout on March 26 will be his fifth title defense. The champion said that he knew fighting Wakamatsu was almost a certainty, as the Japanese star constantly talked about him in the media, which formed a hype package without Moraes even taking part.

“We predicted this fight against Yuya Wakamatsu [would happen] because he doesn’t take my name out of his mouth. He won some fights with ugly performances, and at the end, he always asked for a title fight. But he’s coming off good victories now, and I believe he deserves to fight for the title,” said Moraes.

The Brazilian star went on to give kudos to his rival for his latest performance against Hu Yong.

“Wakamatsu is a young fighter, a prospect. He has a very strong right hand, which he likes to unleash in fights. I believe those are his strengths – his fast hands, and his knockout power,” added the Brazilian.

“I watched his last fight. He fought very well. He didn’t finish, but it was a very good fight. He showed that he has evolved a lot in grappling.”