ONE Championship has added four more bouts to its increasingly stacked ONE Samurai 1 card, with atomweight Muay Thai champion Nadaka Yoshinari set to defend his belt against Songchainoi at Ariake Arena in Tokyo on April 29.
The inaugural event for the new monthly Japan-based series was further fleshed out at a press conference in Tokyo on Monday.
CEO Chatri Sityodtong also confirmed Hiromi Wajima will face Ricardo Bravo in featherweight kickboxing, Toki Tamaru will meet Toma Kuroda in an atomweight kickboxing bout, and Shimon Yoshinari will take on Malaysian teen star Johan Ghazali in flyweight Muay Thai.
The card now stands at 12 bouts – with more to come.
“We have a few more bouts to announce today, but also in the coming weeks as we lead up,” Chatri said.
The title fight between Nadaka and Songchainoi gives the card a fourth world championship bout and adds another layer of Japanese interest to an event that is already shaping up as one of ONE’s most ambitious in the country for years.
Rodtang Jitmuangnon will face Takeru Segawa for the interim flyweight kickboxing title in the main event, Jonathan Haggerty is set to defend his bantamweight kickboxing belt against Yuki Yoza, and Yuya Wakamatsu will put his flyweight MMA title on the line against Avazbek Kholmirzaev.
Now Nadaka returns as one of the card’s central figures.
“This is going to be my first title defence,” the Japanese star said. “Three years ago I beat him, but since then he has won nine matches.
“He’s much faster and stronger now, so I respect him very much.”
Nadaka beat Songchainoi outside ONE in 2023 by third-round TKO, but the Thai has built himself into a very different proposition since then.
He went on an eight-fight run across ONE Friday Fights and ONE Fight Night, earning a full-time contract in the process and putting himself on course for what many assumed would be a first crack at inaugural atomweight Muay Thai gold.
Instead, a surprise decision loss to Numsurin appeared to derail those plans. Nadaka then beat Numsurin by decision at ONE 173 in November to claim the title, while Songchainoi rebounded with a hard-fought win over Myanmar’s Salai Htan Khee Shein.
Songchainoi had been due to face Numsurin again earlier this month before being pulled from that bout without explanation and replaced by Pet Suanluangrodyok. Numsurin went on to lose.
It now appears the promotion had already decided to give Songchainoi the title shot in Tokyo.
Shimon Yoshinari (left) will face Malaysia_s Johan Ghazali at ONE Samurai 1
For the Thai challenger, the rematch carries obvious significance.
“I will treat him as a new opponent entirely,” Songchainoi said. “This is the biggest fight of my life and I will do it to the best of my ability.”
He also joked that Nadaka’s belt looked heavy and he wanted to help carry it.
Nadaka, meanwhile, said he hopes the event will give Japanese fans a chance to see the highest level of Muay Thai amid the kickboxing-heavy card around it.
“I hope to show something different, a much faster tempo, and how great and beautiful Muay Thai is,” he said.
Monday’s announcements also continued ONE’s clear effort to pack the event with Japanese names and styles across multiple disciplines.
Wajima, a former K-1 champion, returns after losing to Nabil Anane in his promotional debut at ONE 173 last November. Tamaru, the former RISE champion, also joins the bill, with Chatri hinting that ONE Samurai could increasingly draw on talent from across Japan’s domestic scene.
“ONE has partnered with Japan’s greatest martial arts promotions, bringing the very best Japanese athletes across MMA, Muay Thai, kickboxing and submission grappling,” he said.
“We are very fortunate and blessed to have partners like RISE, like KNOCK OUT, Shootboxing, Pancrase, Shooto, and many other organisations across Japan.”
Shimon’s inclusion adds another intriguing subplot.
The A1 Sports Gym fighter is Nadaka’s cousin and teammate, and faces a stiff test in teenage Malaysian star Johan Ghazali, who has rebuilt momentum with back-to-back wins over Zakaria El Jamari and Ye Yint Naung.
Nadaka said he hopes both men can shine for the gym in front of a home crowd.
“We believe A1 Sports Gym is the best in the world,” he said.
With four world title fights now confirmed, plus a growing list of domestic stars and crossover names from Japan’s wider combat sports scene, ONE Samurai 1 is no longer just the launch of a new monthly series.
It is starting to look like a statement card.
