Kairat Akhmetov Rips Through Tatsumitsu Wada, Extends Winning Streak To Five

Kairat “The Kazakh” Akhmetov continued his march toward another shot at the ONE Flyweight World Championship after a strong performance against Tatsumitsu “The Sweeper” Wada.

The #2-ranked flyweight contender combined his striking and wrestling seamlessly to outwork the tough Japanese veteran at ONE 158: Tawanchai vs. Larsen inside the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Friday, 3 June.

The match got off to a tentative start, as both mixed martial artists tried to gauge the distance for their striking offense. Wada darted in with long right hands while Akhmetov worked to get inside with punches and low kicks. 

With 90 seconds left in the opening round, “The Kazakh” changed gears and used his world-class wrestling to repeatedly throw his rival to the canvas. However, he couldn’t keep the Japanese fighter pinned on the mat.

Most of the second stanza was also contested on the feet. Akhmetov was the busier of the two, and he scored with jabs and kicks to “The Sweeper’s” lead leg. 

Wada did land with some long right hands when he got the chance, but “The Kazakh” timed a duck-under late in the frame and got onto his Japanese rival’s back. From there, Akhmetov forced the Tokyo native to the canvas where he landed some heavy ground-and-pound.

Akhmetov came out with solid one-twos in the final round, while Wada continued to take aim with his straight right and right uppercut. The former flyweight king again timed his shot under his rival’s punches to get things to the mat, but he couldn’t stick onto his tricky foe.

The pair then slugged it out in a hockey-style dirty boxing battle, but Akhmetov soon connected with another double-leg takedown to ride out the match on top.

The judges were unanimous in their decision at the end, and they handed “The Kazakh” the victory, which pushed his record to 29-2.

Now riding a five-fight winning streak, Akhmetov called for the winner of the newly announced ONE Flyweight World Title rematch between Adriano “Mikinho” Moraes and Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson at ONE 161.

Read more: ONE 158: Tawanchai Vs. Larsen – Results And Highlights For Every Fight