Diogo ‘Baby Shark’ Reis Overwhelms Daiki Yonekura, Claims ONE Flyweight Submission Grappling World Title

Diogo “Baby Shark” Reis defeated Daiki Yonekura to seize the vacant ONE Flyweight Submission Grappling World Title at ONE Fight Night 38: Andrade vs. Baatarkhuu on Prime Video.

In ONE Championship’s final U.S. primetime show of the year this past Friday, December 5, the Brazilian came out moving like a man with no intention of letting the match breathe. From the opening bell, he pressed forward, fought to get on top, and immediately chased the guard pass.

Reis – a two-time ADCC World Champion – hit a quick throw-by and reached for Yonekura’s shins, but the Japanese contender recovered guard as if he had rehearsed the moment a thousand times.

Nonetheless, “Baby Shark” cut through the guard with a clean knee slice, settling into side control with the weight of a rock pressing down on Yonekura’s chest. He trapped the arm and locked in an arm-triangle choke, but the Tokushima native refused to wilt and eventually wriggled free.

The Brazilian stayed on the front foot, driving back into guard and pushing the pace with the kind of steady aggression that feels like a tide coming in. Yonekura, to his credit, matched that urgency with sharp defensive instincts and quick recoveries.

In the World Title bout’s final two minutes, both athletes dipped into leg entanglements, trading attacks in a scramble that swung back and forth like a tug-of-war. Reis then latched onto a guillotine choke, only for the sequence to spill into simultaneous toe-hold attempts. Neither man could secure the finish before the bell.

After 10 minutes of nonstop exchanges, the judges awarded a unanimous decision to “Baby Shark” for his sustained aggression and sharper submission offense, crowning the 23-year-old the new ONE Flyweight Submission Grappling World Champion.

The win pushed the Brazilian phenom’s career record to 94-12 and further solidified his place among the world’s pound-for-pound greats.