"It’s the revival of the Japanese" - Hiroba Minowa lauds ONE Championship compatriots' success amid own rise up the strawweight ranks

ONE Championship's Hiroba Minowa is just one of many must-see talents lined up for ONE: Only the Brave on Friday, January 28.

A proud son of Japan, Minowa is opening the event's main card against American Jarred Brooks. Both fighters are currently jockeying for title contendership in the ONE strawweight rankings.

Although Minowa is obviously proud of his progress in ONE Championship, he also shared with the promotion how he is also proud of how far his compatriots have gone on their own ONE journeys:

"It’s the revival of the Japanese. Comparatively, Japanese fighters used to join ONE at a high rate and came close to winning the title. But they didn’t get it. Or won it and lost it. More and more Japanese [athletes] are coming up from the bottom and challenging for the title, so I think we will see a rush of Japanese title fights this year."

Japan was recently well represented in ONE: Heavy Hitters last January 14. There, Ayaka Miura challenged Xiong Jing Nan for the women's strawweight title. Although Miura ultimately fell in Xiong's record sixth straight title defense, she held her own against the Chinese champion and forced a judges' decision in the end.

Even Japanese non-title contenders stole the show at Heavy Hitters. Shuya Kamikubo choked out Troy Worthen for his ninth straight win in an unblemished six-year span.

Meanwhile, Senzo Ikeda knocked out last-minute replacement Elipitua Siregar and even won US$50,000 for his brutal body shot finish.

Moving forward, the influx of Japanese stars will continue leaving its mark on the ONE Championship rankings. Yuya Wakamatsu is set to take on Adriano Moraes for the flyweight title at the ONE X anniversary super-card.

As for Minowa, a win against Brooks at Only the Brave would mean he could soon challenge for the strawweight strap held by Joshua Pacio.

Japan has long shown itself to be a hotbed for the world's best martial artists and that has not changed one bit today.

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Hiroba Minowa eyes jump up ONE Championship strawweight rankings

Heading into his fight with Jarred Brooks at ONE: Only the Brave, Hiroba Minowa is currently No.4 in the strawweight rankings. He slid down one spot as the previously unrated Brooks took his spot at No.3.

Both fighters' careers are obviously closely intertwined right now. Minowa told ONE Championship that whoever wins next Friday would have already earned the right to challenge for Joshua Pacio's strawweight title:

"I think the winner deserves to fight Pacio. If we’re talking about the title, we’re the challengers."

Tune into ONE: Only the Brave on January 28 to find out who takes a big step towards having strawweight gold wrapped around their waist.