ONE Championship returns to Japan this weekend with a card built around some of the country’s top combat sports talent.
ONE Samurai 3 takes place Saturday, Sept. 12, at Yokohama Buntai in Yokohama, Japan. The nine-fight lineup features a mixture of kickboxing, Muay Thai and mixed martial arts, with reigning ONE Atomweight Muay Thai World Champion Nadaka Yoshinari taking center stage against Myanmar’s Har Ling Om in an atomweight kickboxing showdown. Former ONE Flyweight MMA World Champion Yuya Wakamatsu meets Willie van Rooyen in the co-main event.
The remainder of the card brings plenty of Japanese talent into the spotlight. Shimon Yoshinari faces Suablack Tor Pran49 in Muay Thai action, while Hyu Iwata meets Hyuma Hitachi in kickboxing. Hiroba Minowa and Yuta Miyazawa square off in a strawweight MMA contest. Ryuya Okuwaki battles Chokdee Maxjandee in Muay Thai, Kosei Yoshida meets Zhao Zhengdong in kickboxing, Seiichiro Ito takes on Kazusa Kurobe in MMA, and Fiji faces Yuki Tanaka in a featherweight kickboxing bout.
Nadaka Takes on a New Challenge
There are few things Nadaka has not accomplished in the striking world, but the 25-year-old Japanese star is about to add something new to his résumé.
The reigning ONE Atomweight Muay Thai World Champion will temporarily step away from the sport that has made him one of the most decorated young fighters on the planet and make his professional kickboxing debut against Har Ling Om.
Nadaka enters the contest with a 67-6 overall striking record and an incredible 41-fight winning streak. He has not lost since 2019. While this will mark his professional kickboxing debut, he is no stranger to the ruleset after accumulating experience in amateur kickboxing earlier in his career.
That experience could prove valuable against an opponent who has nothing to lose.
Har Ling Om brings a 32-6 record into Yokohama and has competed in both Lethwei and Muay Thai. The 28-year-old Myanmar fighter has already picked up two Muay Thai victories under the ONE banner, but defeating Nadaka would dwarf anything else he has accomplished inside the promotion.
The stakes are obvious for both men. Nadaka can extend his winning streak to 42 fights and potentially begin positioning himself for a run at a second ONE Championship belt. Har Ling Om, meanwhile, can instantly change his standing in the division by knocking off one of the sport’s most accomplished pound-for-pound strikers. A victory could even put him in position for another meeting with Nadaka — this time with the Japanese star’s Muay Thai championship at stake.
Nadaka has already conquered plenty in Muay Thai. Saturday night will provide the first indication of just how far he can take his talents under a different ruleset.
Wakamatsu Begins Road Back to the Title
Yuya Wakamatsu knows exactly where he wants to go next.
The former ONE Flyweight MMA World Champion returns in the co-main event against South Africa’s Willie van Rooyen, and both fighters have a common target waiting at the top of the division: reigning champion Avazbek Kholmirzaev.
Wakamatsu enjoyed a tremendous 2025 campaign. He knocked out longtime rival Adriano Moraes in the opening round of their rematch to capture the vacant ONE Flyweight MMA World Championship in March. He followed that performance by stopping ONE Strawweight MMA World Champion Joshua Pacio in the second round in November.
Then came Kholmirzaev.
The Uzbek standout stopped Wakamatsu at ONE Samurai 1 in April, taking the flyweight crown and sending the Japanese veteran back into contender status. Now, the 31-year-old Wakamatsu begins his climb back toward the championship in front of his home-country fans.
Van Rooyen’s motivation is remarkably similar.
Kholmirzaev handed the South African his only professional defeat, submitting him by armbar in van Rooyen’s ONE Championship debut last November. The 23-year-old responded in March by scoring a third-round TKO of Jeremy Miado.
At 8-1, van Rooyen has the opportunity to make a massive jump in the flyweight hierarchy. Beating a former world champion in Wakamatsu would be the biggest victory of his career and provide a compelling argument for another crack at the man responsible for the lone blemish on his record.
For Wakamatsu, a win keeps his hopes of quickly reclaiming the championship alive. For van Rooyen, it could transform him from an emerging prospect into a legitimate world-title challenger.
With both men looking for redemption against the same champion, there should be little mystery surrounding what is at stake.
ONE Samurai 3 Fight Card
Kickboxing – Atomweight: Nadaka Yoshinari vs. Har Ling Om
MMA – Flyweight: Yuya Wakamatsu vs. Willie van Rooyen
Muay Thai – Flyweight: Shimon Yoshinari vs. Suablack Tor Pran49
Kickboxing – Flyweight: Hyu Iwata vs. Hyuma Hitachi
MMA – Strawweight: Hiroba Minowa vs. Yuta Miyazawa
Muay Thai – Atomweight: Ryuya Okuwaki vs. Chokdee Maxjandee
Kickboxing – Flyweight: Kosei Yoshida vs. Zhao Zhengdong
MMA – Strawweight: Seiichiro Ito vs. Kazusa Kurobe
Kickboxing – Featherweight: Fiji vs. Yuki Tanaka