Ryuto Sawada (©ONE Championship)

Ryuto “Dragon Boy” Sawada ( 澤田龍人), 25, of Meguro-ku, Tokyo, Japan is one of the ONE Warrior Series alumni who are now building a promising career in ONE Championship. The Japanese mixed martial artist will fight Robin “The Ilonggo” Catalan, 32, of Iloilo City, Philippines at “ONE: Unbreakable 3.”

Featuring six MMA fights, “ONE: Unbreakable 3″ will take place at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, Singapore on February 5, 2021. In the fourth bout of the evening, Sawada and Catalan will battle it out in the strawweight division.

“I think he’s someone that is both capable of striking as well as grappling,” Sawada said of Catalan. “He definitely has the ability to finish the fight on his feet or on the ground. I respect all of my opponents. We’ve all been through different journeys to get to this point.”

Sawada believes that Catalan is “the type to get in his own head if he ends up in a bad position.” The Japanese MMA fighter said he will try to use that to his advantage.

“For me, fighting is both physical and mental,” Sawada noted. “You need a strong mind as well as a strong body.”

Waiting for the next fight during the new coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has been quite stressful for Sawada but he made sure to be prepared for a fight at any moment’s notice. He said fighters like him have to be ready always.

“I trained hard for this fight, so when I step inside the circle, I’m ready to give a good performance,” Sawada shared. “I’ll go aggressively from the beginning and finish the fight in the second or third round.”

“ONE: Unbreakable 3” marks Sawada’s fourth outing in ONE Championship. It will be his third victory in the promotion if he beats Catalan.

When Sawada made his ONE Championship debut on August 16, 2019, he submitted Aziz “The Krauser” Calim, 23, of Indonesia via rear-naked choke. The Japanese MMA fighter earned his second win in the promotion by beating Miao Li Tao ( 苗立涛), 27, of China via unanimous decision on October 16, 2020.