Japanese kickboxing star Yuki Yoza is training hard for his scheduled ONE Championship match later this month. It has taken him even further, to the Netherlands, where he hopes to expand his game and put himself in a better position to win.
The 28-year-old Ibaraki, Japan native is slated to compete at the exclusive fight card offering, The Inner Circle 22, on July 17 at the Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand. He is going against British striker Ben Woolliss in a bantamweight kickboxing joust.
As part of Yoza’s preparation, he and his team decided to set up camp at the world-renowned combat sport training facility, Mike’s Gym, in Oostzaan as well. In doing so, he is looking to get added perspective on training and competition to make himself a more well-rounded martial artist.
“The Dutch are more hungry. In Japan, there’s a tendency to do the training you like, the training you’re already good at, the training you want to do. But over there, they’re training to genuinely make a living from martial arts. You can see it. The feeling people bring to a single sparring session is different,” Yoza shared in an interview with ONE Championship.
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At The Inner Circle 22, Yuki Yoza is shooting for a bounce-back win after falling short in his attempt to seize the ONE bantamweight kickboxing world title in his last match in April. He lost to divisional king Jonathan Haggerty by decision to absorb his first defeat in four fights to date in ONE Championship.
It is the same mission that Woolliss, 32, has, following his own loss by decision to former bantamweight kickboxing world champion Petchtanong Petchfergus back in May.
The Inner Circle 22 will take place ahead of ONE Friday Fights 162 and stream exclusively on live.onefc.com.
Yuki Yoza grateful to recently retired Takeru for serving as an inspiration
Yuki Yoza has come a long way in his martial arts journey. Among those he credits for helping him in his advancement is compatriot and recently retired Japanese legend, Takeru Segawa.
‘The Natural Krusher’ called it a career after his last ONE Championship match in April, saying it was the right time to proceed to the next chapter of his life while still looking after the next generation of fighters.
Among those who expressed gratitude to Takeru and for what he has done in kickboxing in Japan was Yuki Yoza, his teammate at Team Vasileus.
“I first heard of Takeru when I was in high school. Seeing how brilliant he was, I started thinking that I wanted to become a professional fighter too. So it wasn’t just a small influence or anything. He truly gave me a dream. He’s the reason I thought, ‘I want to become a fighter,'” Yoza told ONE Championship interview.
Both Takeru and Yoza long competed at K-1 before taking their talents to the ‘Home of Martial Arts’.
Edited by Saiyed Adeem Karim
