It will be another interesting clash of styles when Jeremy "The Jaguar" Miado returns to the ONE Championship Circle in two weeks.
Miado will rely on his dangerous striking when he battles the feisty Keito "Pocket Monk" Yamakita at ONE 166: Qatar inside Lusail Sports Arena on March 1 in a three-round strawweight MMA bout.
Miado not taking Yamakita's ground game lightly
It will be a good old-fashioned battle between striker and grappler, and Miado certainly knows that Yamakita’s ground game is something he shouldn’t take lightly.
“I don’t see any holes in his ground game. He beat Alex Silva, so that says a lot about his ground game,” Miado said.
“In his last fight, I still felt like Yamakita had an edge in the techniques, but [Bokang] Masunyane is very athletic, he’s got such a strong body, and he has a wrestling base, so it was tough to pin him to the mat. It ended with Masunyane controlling him on the ground.”
But that doesn’t mean he’s entering this fight at a disadvantage.
Miado boasts height advantage
Miado comes into this bout with a 5-inch height advantage, and for someone who knows how to use his range to the best of his abilities, he knows that it will come in handy.
“I have my advantages as well. I’m not saying that 100 percent I’m going to win, but I have the height and reach advantage for him, being a striker,” he said.
“I guess he also has his advantages being a shorter guy because it’s easier to shoot for a takedown. Changing levels isn’t that hard for him,” he added.
“But as a striker, for as long as I can utilize my jab and my kicks well, I feel like I can control the distance. That’s gonna be at the top of my game plan – and damage him from a distance.”
But he’s not entirely focused on his striking for this match, as he’s made the necessary adjustments by returning to Thailand to train at Southside MMA to prepare for Yamakita’s grappling.
“When I found out [I was fighting a grappler like Yamakita, grappling became] my focus right now. That’s why I flew to Thailand because of it, to prepare for his ground game and wrestling,” he said.
“It’s a given that I’m a striker, so I expect most of my opponents to focus on the ground game. I went to Southside MMA because the level of ground game here is so high, from the wrestling to their BJJ,” he added.
“The coaches here are also the same ones that I had at Marrok, so there’s really no adjustment.”
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