Yuya Wakamatsu, Gustavo Balart move up in ONE Championship’s rankings
In the aftermath of ONE 165 on January 28, Yuya Wakamatsu and Gustavo Balart made a significant leap in ONE Championship’s athlete rankings.
While the majority of divisions maintained their status quo, the flyweight and strawweight MMA brackets witnessed notable shake-ups.
Wakamatsu made a powerful statement in his flyweight rematch against Danny Kingad. He settled the score with his Filipino rival by way of unanimous decision.
This triumph propelled Wakamatsu two spots higher in the rankings. Due to the win, he claimed the #2 position. Meanwhile, this reshuffling pushed Kingad and Reece McLaren down to #3 and #4, respectively.
The Japanese knockout artist’s surge in the top five makes him as a potential contender for ONE Flyweight MMA World Champion Demetrious Johnson.
This is what the flyweight MMA rankings look like now:
Champion: Demetrious Johnson
#1: Adriano Moraes
#2: Yuya Wakamatsu (+2)
#3: Danny Kingad (-1)
#4: Reece McLaren (-1)
#5: Hu Yong
On the other hand, Balart’s split-decision win over Hiroba Minowa had a ripple effect in the strawweight MMA division.
This rewarded Balart with the #3 classification, causing Hiroba to move down to the #4 seat.
This is what the flyweight MMA rankings look like now:
Champion: Jarred Brooks
#1: Joshua Pacio
#2: Bokang Masunyane
#3: Gustavo Balart (+1)
#4: Hiroba Minowa (-1)
#5: Mansur Malachiev
Takeru Segawa crashes kickboxing rankings
Takeru Segawa made a grand entrance into the flyweight kickboxing rankings following an enthralling encounter against divisional king Superlek Kiatmoo9 at ONE 165.
He may have come up short in his quest for the ONE Flyweight Kickboxing World Title. However, the Japanese superstar still earned the #2 spot in the division’s top five.
This is what the flyweight kickboxing rankings look like now:
Champion: Superlek Kiatmoo9
#1: Rodtang Jitmuangnon
#2: Takeru Segawa (NR)
#3: Taiki Naito
#4: Tagir Khalilov
#5: Elias Mahmoudi
An independent panel of sports media members and industry experts determine the ONE athlete rankings. Following each live event, they rank the fighters based on their most recent performances and the quality of competition.
