The Japanese Flyweights
Tatsuro Taira was mentioned previously in the champions section, and it should be mentioned that there are a ton of 125’ers fighting out of Japan. Makoto Takahashi (12-1-1), Yuma Horiuchi (9-4), Tatsuki Saomoto (16-2), and also Hiroba Minowa (13-2) are standouts across Japan.
Makoto Takahashi has fought his entire career basically for Deep Impact and was their flyweight champion at one point. He’s also fought once for both RIZIN and Bellator. Takahashi isn’t a finisher but has proven his worth against credible competition.
Yuma Horiuchi is from Tokyo, Japan but lives in the US and trains out of Team Oyama in California. Horiuchi is a staple of the LFA promotion. He came up short in a title fight to Charles Johnson but just rebounded in a big way knocking out highly regarded prospect Mark Climaco.
Tatsuki Saomoto has been on a run the last six years and is sitting on a twelve-fight win streak at the moment.
ONE Championship’s Hiroba Minowa is the former Shooto strawweight champion before moving up to 125. Minowa is now 22-years-old but made his pro debut when he was only 16. He’s been a big deal out of Japan for a while with his fan-friendly fight style and potential.
