ONE Championship

A single loss will not slow down the role Hyu wants to play in ONE Championship’s future.

Hyu faces RISE Super Featherweight Champion Hyuma Hitachi in a flyweight kickboxing showdown at Yokohama Buntai in Yokohama, Japan, this Saturday, September 12.

The 23-year-old dropped his first professional decision to Taiki Naito at ONE SAMURAI 1 this past April, a result he has attributed entirely to a lapse in his own composure rather than his opponent’s game plan. A karate black belt who transitioned to kickboxing at 19, Hyu had carried a 5-1 ONE Championship record into that fight before the setback.

“I’m frustrated with the version of myself that couldn’t stay composed through the end of the fight,” Hyu said. “Now I have a strong desire to come back and prove something.”

The rapid growth of ONE SAMURAI has opened up regular opportunities for Japanese fighters to compete at home, a shift Hyu did not expect when he first signed with the promotion.

“Recently, more martial arts fans have started talking about the ‘next generation,’ and I feel like I have to be one of the people leading ONE SAMURAI,” he said.

Hyu Iwata eyes Di Bella and Naito rematch down the line

Beating Hitachi, a 28-year-old RISE champion making his ONE debut, is only the immediate target. Hyu has already begun eyeing the names that could define his climb back up the flyweight kickboxing ladder, including a rematch with Naito and a potential clash with strawweight champion Jonathan Di Bella.

Both represent the kind of statement opportunities that could push him back into the championship conversation he occupied before the Naito loss.

“My goal is to keep beating the fighters who are in the title picture,” Hyu said.

“I do have the feeling that I’d like to face one of them first.”

This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM