Geje Eustaquio banking on experience as he preps for Wakamatsu

With a relatively shorter time to prepare, former ONE Flyweight World Champion Geje “Gravity” Eustaquio will be leaning on his experience when he marks his return to the ONE Championship stage.

Eustaquio will now be a part of the massive Manila card as he is scheduled to face Yuya “Little Piranha” Wakamatsu of Japan in ONE: Dawn of Heroes, which emanates from the Mall of Asia Arena this coming August 2.

“First of all, I’m very happy and very proud to be part of this card, to perform in front of my kababayans along with my Team Lakay brothers,” Eustaquio said as he joins the likes of Eduard Folayang, Danny Kingad, Honorio Banario and Edward Kelly in the card.

This will be Eustaquio’s third assignment this 2019 after splitting his last two battles against top competition.

In his last outing, the 30-year-old Baguio City native impressively put his name back to the winning column after scoring a unanimous decision victory over Kim Kyu Sung of South Korea at ONE: Enter the Dragon in Singapore last April.

Now, with his match against the dangerous Japanese already set, “Gravity” believes that his experience of battling the best in The Home Of Martial Arts is something that he will have over the Japanese knockout artist.

“For me, I think the best factor that will lead me to victory in Manila is my experience. Just like what I’ve said the last time, I’ve seen them all. I fought the best and learned a lot from them,” he said.

“Experience always plays a big role in competitions. I’ve been to many championship bouts, at the end of the day it’s just a matter of faith.”

Continuously training non-stop after he won in Singapore, Eustaquio revealed that fans should expect a lot from him on 2 August as he’s bringing in new techniques to surprise his Japanese foe.

“For me, it’s just another day in the office. I will go there and show my new techniques,” Eustaquio revealed.

“I will play it smarter. I hope they will like it.”

Nevertheless, Eustaquio knows “Little Piranha” won’t be a walk in the park.

The 24-year-old native of Kagoshima, Japan is a former Pancrase Flyweight Tournament Champion. Holding a professional record of 10-4, Wakamatsu is an aggressive knockout artist with shocking power as nine of his ten victories came by way of knockout.

“He is a good striker and he got KO power. I will treat this fight as the best fight ever just like my previous matches. Because I always want to come out victorious.”

For Eustaquio, this is another opportunity for him to inch closer to another World Title opportunity and he vows to make the most out of it.n

“My game has evolved and upgraded completely. For this match, I have the momentum and I’ll keep going until I get a shot again on that golden strap.”