ONE Championship

A five-fight knockout spree came to an abrupt halt earlier this year, and the Japanese star wants that chapter closed for good.

Hyu faces ONE Championship newcomer Hyuma Hitachi in a flyweight kickboxing matchup at ONE SAMURAI 3, touching down at Yokohama Buntai in Yokohama, Japan, on Saturday, September 12. The 23-year-old opened his ONE Championship run with five straight wins, four by knockout over Leandro Miranda, Zakaria El Jamari, Jordan Estupinan, and Suablack Tor Pran49, before countryman Taiki Naito handed him his first professional loss in a three-round battle at ONE SAMURAI 1.

Hitachi enters his own promotional debut with a reputation built on relentless boxing combinations, a discipline he added specifically to sharpen his kickboxing background. A knockout of Yuki Kasahara stands as the clearest example of what that combination produces against live competition.

Hyu faces contrasting styles puzzle

Hyu’s improvisational, angle-based approach sets up a genuine clash of philosophies against a fighter who prefers closing distance immediately and imposing his hands from the opening exchange.

The Yokohama Buntai crowd will get a direct answer to how Hyu responds to adversity for the first time in his career, with his previously unblemished ONE record now carrying an asterisk he is eager to erase.

The bout joins a stacked ONE SAMURAI 3 card that also features reigning ONE Atomweight Muay Thai World Champion Nadaka making his kickboxing debut, along with a flyweight Muay Thai showdown between Shimon Yoshinari and Suablack Tor Pran49, giving Yokohama a full night of high-level Japanese and international talent.

Neither man has faced the other before, leaving both camps to prepare largely off reputation and available footage rather than any shared history to lean on heading into their September 12 meeting.

This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM