Nadaka walked away from ONE SAMURAI 3 with a decision win in his kickboxing debut. The Japanese destroyer, however, walked out of Yokohama Buntai with plenty of lessons to unpack.
The reigning ONE Atomweight Muay Thai world champion outpointed Myanmar striker Har Ling Om via unanimous decision in the headline attraction of ONE SAMURAI 3.
The performance marked the 25-year-old’s first-ever appearance under kickboxing rules – and the transition proved more challenging than the Japanese star had expected.
Muay Thai has been Nadaka’s playground his entire career. Elbows, clinch work, sweeps, and the full arsenal that comes with the discipline have all been baked into his instincts since day one.
Stripping half of those weapons out of his repertoire on fight night created moments where his body wanted to fire off techniques his brain quickly had to override. He recalled:
“Early on, I got a little rushed and tried to do something I would normally do in Muay Thai. I was told it wasn’t allowed, and I thought, ‘Right, of course.’ There were several other moments where I thought, ‘If only this were Muay Thai.'”
Those instinctive slip-ups aside, the performance itself carried genuine weight for Nadaka.
Headlining a major card at home in front of his supporters was the kind of platform he had been chasing for months, and closing the event with a statement performance was firmly on his agenda.
The reality of the finished product, though, left the Japanese destroyer far from satisfied. The Eiwa Sports Gym representative shared:
“Because this was my kickboxing debut, I wanted to show everything I have developed up to this point and close the event with my best possible performance. I was able to win, but I couldn’t perform the way I had envisioned, so I am left with a lot of frustration.”
Nadaka sees future potential in competing across two disciplines
Nadaka may have walked out of Yokohama frustrated. The Japanese athlete, however, also walked out with a genuinely exciting new possibility opening up in front of him.
Fighting in a completely different rule set for the first time did more than just add another line to his decorated resume. It cracked open the door to an entirely new pathway:
“After doing kickboxing tonight, I don’t think competing in both sports is impossible. I felt new possibilities for myself, and this fight gave me another reason to keep getting stronger.”
While he has flagged the possibility of finding a home in kickboxing, his next fight sits firmly back in his bread and butter.
The Japanese destroyer defends his ONE atomweight Muay Thai world title against Malaysian challenger Rifdean Masdor in the co-main event of ONE SAMURAI 4 inside Tokyo’s spectacular Ariake Arena on Saturday, October 17.
