Yuya Wakamatsu


Yuya Wakamatsu is a Japanese martial artist from Satsumasendai City, Japan. His nickname "Little Piranha" came from his coach and mentor, Ryo "Piranha" Chonan. He has competed for promotions such as Pancrase, ZST, Vale Tudo Japan, and currently ONE Championship.
As of April 27, 2020, he is #4 in the ONE Championship flyweight rankings.

Early life

Wakamatsu was born in Satsumasendai, Kagoshima, a rural part of the Kagoshima prefecture, and grew up there with his parents and three siblings. As a youngster, Wakamatsu played soccer and started boxing, but never took sports too seriously and spent much of his time getting into trouble.
"Little Piranha" graduated high school and became a carpenter, but his life turned around when he followed his mother and siblings to Tokyo to chase bigger opportunities.
There, he started training at Chonan's Tribe Tokyo MMA after he had watched him compete in PRIDE and admired his courageous style of fighting.

Martial Arts Career

Wakamatsu began his mixed martial arts training at the age of 18, and made his debut at Vale Tudo Japan in 2015.
He lost via submission to Yuto Sekiguchi, but then went on a nine-fight win streak.
His notable achievements in that time included three straight TKO wins to win the Pancrase Neo Blood Flyweight Tournament title.
Following his win over Shohei Masumizu at Pancrase 290, media outlets started to recognise his potential as a breakout star, but he lost in his flyweight King Of Pancrase title match against Senzo Ikeda.
After getting another TKO win, Wakamatsu signed for ONE Championship and faced Danny Kingad in his debut bout.
Wakamatsu had the highest profile match of his career when he faced former UFC flyweight champion, Demetrious Johnson. Fans were surprised at his ability to damage Johnson in the stand-up exchanges, but he lost to a second-round guillotine.
He got his first ONE victory via KO over former flyweight champion Geje Eustaquio, and he followed that up with a decision win over veteran Dae Hwan Kim.

Championships and Accomplishments