Gustavo Balart Defeats Yosuke Saruta; Ranked #4 Strawweight
Victory for Gustavo ‘El Gladiador’ Balart at ONE Championship 156: Eersel vs Sadikovic was enough to establish the Cuban as the #4 ranked ONE Championship strawweight, a career-best for the 4’11 Greco-Roman gold medallist.
A hard-fought bout against former ONE Championship Strawweight Champion Yosuke Saruta saw Balart put in a career best performance, building on his win over the highly-rated Ryuto Sawada in July of 2021. A rearranged fight, Balart-Saruta was originally scheduled to take place in February at ONE: Bad Blood, only for Saruta to test positive for Coronavirus just two days out. With the anticipation cranked up by the unfortunate postponement, neither fighter was willing to accept defeat – but in the end, Balart’s boxing and creative striking earned him the win on the judge’s scorecards.
Balart now finds himself within close proximity of a title shot, and will be eager to extend his winning streak in his next outing.
Ironclad Global Sports Management 