“I’m not easy to beat” - Yuya Wakamatsu warns Joshua Pacio of rough night at ONE 173

Reigning ONE flyweight MMA world champion Yuya Wakamatsu of Japan refuses to allow Joshua Pacio to claim a historic two-division glory.

ONE 173: Superbon vs. Noiri, ‘Little Piranha’ will defend his 26 pounds of gold for the first time against the reigning strawweight MMA kingpin from the Philippines.

Ahead of this champion-versus-champion collision on Nov. 16 at Tokyo's Ariake Arena, Wakamatsu issued a stern warning to his challenger:

"Again, whether either of us will be defeated or not will be hard to tell. I'm not easy to beat, and I don't think he's an opponent that will be easy to beat,” Wakamatsu said in a vlog post on his YouTube channel.

After some ups and downs, Wakamatsu finally captured the vacant flyweight crown with a statement-making first-round knockout of former multi-time champion Adriano Moraes at ONE 172.

It was sweet revenge for the 30-year-old Japanese superstar, who avenged an earlier defeat to ‘Mikinho’.

Meanwhile, Pacio brings equally impressive credentials to their showdown. ‘The Passion’ is a seven-time strawweight champion and is gunning to become his country’s first-ever two-division MMA world champion.

Watch the full video:

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Yuya Wakamatsu expects swift finish vs. Joshua Pacio

Knowing how dangerous Joshua Pacio can be, especially in the championship rounds, Yuya Wakamatsu plans a quick day at the office.

At ONE 173, 'Little Piranha' plans to use his signature forward march to overwhelm the Filipino early.

If all goes to plan, the Tribe Tokyo MMA standout wants to land a killer blow in Round 1 like he did against Adriano Moraes. He said in the same vlog post:

"To be honest, rather than it being a ground fight, I think it will be more of a striking matchup. I think it could be decided in one round.”

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