Yuya Wakamatsu admits he had to dig deep to beat Gilbert Nakatani: "My opponent this time was very tough"

Yuya Wakamatsu was full of gratitude after getting his hand raised in his return at ONE Fight Night 26.

The Japanese warrior and No. 2-ranked flyweight MMA contender is currently riding a three-fight winning streak following his latest outing. On Dec. 6 at Lumpinee Stadium, he looked to build on his win over Danny Kingad from earlier this year.

He was tasked with welcoming Gilbert Nakatani to the promotion at Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand. Across three rounds, Wakamatsu put on a dominant performance.

Despite being in control of the fight, that didn't stop Nakatani from continuing to push forward to try and come away with the victory.

During his in-ring interview with Mitch Chilson, Yuya Wakamatsu gave thanks to his opponent and spoke about the developments he has made:

"First of all, I would like to thank you Gilbert. You're a very tough opponent. Second, thank you ONE Championship and all the staff that prepared this amazing run for me to fight on."

Yuya Wakamatsu continued:

"And third, I know my opponent this time was very tough, very strong, very durable. He's also very good at striking on the ground. But as I've said, I've been training my mental strength and I have always been working on things that I have to be better [at] and it's been working."

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Yuya Wakamatsu was able to stay ahead

Despite the tenacity of Gilbert Nakatani, it wasn't enough to make his clash with Yuya Wakamatsu a competitive one.

The 29-year-old got his hand raised once again in a pivotal time for the flyweight MMA division. The loaded bracket currently doesn't have a world champion following Demetrious Johnson's retirement at ONE 168.

With this victory and his current winning streak, Wakamatsu has proved that he has to be in contention as one of the top contenders. He was critical of his performance but the toughness of Nakatani deserves a lot of credit.