ONE Championship

A 41-fight winning streak has never been tested under an entirely different rule set, until now.

Reigning ONE Atomweight Muay Thai World Champion Nadaka opens his professional kickboxing career against Myanmar’s Har Ling Om in the main event of ONE SAMURAI 3, streaming live from Yokohama Buntai in Yokohama, Japan, this Saturday, September 12.

The 25-year-old has not lost since July 2019, a run built on ten Muay Thai World Titles across multiple divisions, plus a Rajadamnern and Lumpinee Stadium double at 105 pounds, and a 67-6 career record. Much of it traces back to Eiwa Sports Gym, where Chairman Natsuo Nakagawa built the structure that turned a scattered young talent into Japan’s most decorated Muay Thai export.

Nadaka began serious training at Eiwa at age eleven after a stint at a local gym called Succeed left his growing hunger for combat unsatisfied.

“I started going there when I was eleven. From there, I started fighting a lot more often,” he recalled.

“I really don’t think I’d have gone pro without Chairman Nakagawa. He’s the reason I fell in love with Muay Thai as a sport.”

Nadaka’s Eiwa teammates also fight Saturday

Nakagawa’s system extended beyond Nadaka himself. The Chairman sent his prized student to Thailand, the sport’s home, to sharpen his craft, and paired him with trainer Khundong Por Thawatchai and, at times, multi-time World Champion Pakorn PK Sialaytentmungkorn, who now competes under the ONE banner himself.

Two more Eiwa products fight on Saturday’s card. His cousin Shimon Yoshinari meets Suablack Tor Pran49 in a flyweight Muay Thai bout, while Ryuya Okuwaki, a former four-fight amateur rival before joining the gym, faces Chokdee Maxjandee at atomweight, and all three remain unbeaten inside ONE Championship.

“The biggest visible sign of growth was just winning fights – the results themselves, such as beating an opponent I hadn’t been able to defeat before.

“That was a period where I could really feel myself getting stronger.”

This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM