‘Father Time Is Catching Up To Him’ – Liu Mengyang Explains Why Masaaki Noiri Cannot Win At ONE SAMURAI 2
Liu “Spirit Dragon” Mengyang has already defeated Masaaki Noiri once. Now, he is here to explain exactly why it will happen again, and why the margin of victory will be even wider this time around.
The Chinese phenom headlines ONE SAMURAI 2 against the former ONE Interim Featherweight Kickboxing World Champion on Saturday, August 8. The highly anticipated rematch broadcasts live from Tokyo’s EBARA WAVE Arena Ota, streaming via live.onefc.com.
The contest serves as a quarterfinal of the ONE SAMURAI Featherweight Kickboxing Tournament, and a statement win would keep Liu’s dream of facing reigning champion Superbon for undisputed gold firmly alive.
The Shunyuan Fight Club affiliate carries a stellar 36-7 career striking record, 11 impressive finishes, and a roaring three-fight ONE winning streak. The confident athlete who arrives in Tokyo on August 8 is certainly not the exact same one who made his promotional debut in December 2024.
He knows it, his dedicated team knows it, and he fully expects Noiri to know it too.
Central to Liu’s immense confidence is a dynamic fighting style that he believes no opponent — least of all Noiri — is fully equipped to solve. Where other contenders often arrive with a fixed approach that can be easily studied and countered, the Chinese sensation brings something fundamentally different to every single bout.
Liu revealed:
“My fighting style is extremely versatile. We come up with exclusive game plans for every rival. I adopt totally different tactics and ring styles in every single fight.
“I believe my fighting style is much more consistent than before. It’s far more polished and mature. Mentally, regardless of how others see me, I’ve gained genuine inner confidence.”
That inner confidence does not waver for a second when the conversation turns to Noiri specifically.
The 33-year-old from Team Vasileus brings an impressive 51-14 striking record and a former ONE Interim Featherweight Kickboxing World Title pedigree to this rematch. He is a respected teammate of Japanese superstars Takeru “Natural Born Krusher” Segawa and Yuki Yoza, and he carries the passionate backing of a home crowd in Tokyo. None of it, Liu firmly insists, changes the ultimate outcome.
The 23-year-old kickboxer’s honest assessment of the threat level Noiri presents is delivered with the kind of calm that comes not from arrogance, but from having already shared the ring with his opponent and found a definitive answer.
He told onefc.com:
“I don’t see any real threats from him in the rematch at all, and I will fight with total ease and control inside the cage.
“My greatest strengths are my unbreakable willpower and relentless fighting spirit, paired with the hyper-specific game plans my coach designs for every opponent. That will carry me to victory in this kickboxing tournament.”
Liu has already confidently mapped out exactly where the trajectory of this contest leads. As a 23-year-old in the absolute prime of his athletic development, competing against a fighter he believes is on the wrong side of his peak, “Spirit Dragon” sees the broader picture in very clear terms.
The comparison is stark, and Liu makes no effort to soften it.
He said:
“I will surpass Masaaki Noiri in every single one of these categories. Father time is catching up to him, and he has very few prime competitive years left. I’m still young and in my athletic prime. That World Title belt will belong to me, Liu Mengyang, sooner or later.”
Liu Issues Blunt Final Message For The Japanese Veteran
Liu Mengyang spent considerable time inside the ring with Masaaki Noiri in December 2024, and the experience left him with a thorough understanding of exactly what the Japanese veteran brings to a fight and, perhaps more importantly, what he does not.
His technical breakdown of Noiri as a martial artist is surgical and delivered without a hint of diplomatic softening. He sees a one-dimensional opponent whose stylistic limitations were exposed in their first encounter and whose tactical ceiling, in his view, has not risen since.
He said:
“After sharing the cage with Masaaki Noiri, I can say his fighting style is extremely one-dimensional. He’s good at seizing openings and timing his strikes well, but his overall game plan is still very one-dimensional in my opinion.
“I feel zero pressure stepping into the cage against him, whether it’s the Grand Prix or a title eliminator fight. I’m fully confident I can defeat him every time we meet. I don’t believe he’s capable of winning the Grand Prix, let alone holding a World Title belt long-term.”
As the two men prepare to meet for the second time in front of a Japanese crowd that will heavily favor his opponent, Liu has a final message for the man across the ring, and it is as sharp as the counters that have defined his career.
Liu delivered:
“He only has a tiny pool of tactics, and he can only rely on trash talk to convince online fans how great he is. Deep down he knows he’s bluffing; he lacks any deep tactical arsenal. Even if he comes up with new tactics, I’ll have countermeasures ready and knock him down.
“Masaaki Noiri: If you get KO’d again this time, don’t claim you just let your guard down. It’s simply because you’re past your prime, and it’s time for you to retire.”
