Nadaka Shares Hall Of Fame Night With Takeru At ONE Title Defense

ONE atomweight Muay Thai champion Nadaka Yoshinari defends his title against Rifdean Masdor on the same October 17 card where retired kickboxing legend Takeru Segawa enters the promotion's Hall of Fame.

The pairing reunites two fighters who last shared a ONE Championship card at SAMURAI 1, where Nadaka successfully defended his strap against Songchainoi Kiatsongrit on the undercard of Takeru's final professional bout. That farewell performance left a mark on the champion, who watched Takeru navigate a revenge match in the main event slot while carrying the weight of a retirement announcement.

Nadaka Draws On Takeru Example Ahead Of Rifdean Challenge

"It was his retirement fight, plus a revenge match against a guy who'd beaten him before, and it was also the main event of the show — every kind of pressure you could stack on someone," Nadaka told BJPenn.com. "And under all that, he put together the best version of himself, the best performance of his career."

Fight-week commitments kept Nadaka from watching the finish live from the arena floor, a missed moment he still regrets heading into his own showcase at Ariake Arena. The champion carries a 42-fight unbeaten streak into the Rifdean defence but rejected the idea of chasing Takeru's brand of stardom.

"I don't think I have that kind of pull yet, that ability to move the whole scene by myself," he said. "What matters more for me is not losing myself, sticking firmly to my own style."

ONE SAMURAI 4 airs live from Tokyo on Saturday, October 17, with the Nadaka-Rifdean co-main event set for five rounds.

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• BJPenn — Nadaka shares Hall of Fame night with Takeru at ONE World Title defense