The Rise Of An Apex Predator: Reliving Diogo Reis’ Dominant ONE Championship Run Ahead Of ONE Fight Night 43

However, for a two-time ADCC World Champion, the blinding spotlight was nothing new. Reis thrived under the immense pressure, attacking from the opening moments with explosive, side-to-side guard passing that kept Ishiguro perpetually off-balance and offered him absolutely no room to settle.

After effortlessly breaking through the guard, “Baby Shark” unleashed his full creative arsenal, jumping into a picture-perfect kimura lock while simultaneously trapping Ishiguro in a devastating head scissor choke.

He torqued the arm to a gruesome angle and forced the tap, delivering a promotional debut that was as technically flawless as it was emphatic.

A New King Is Crowned

That statement-making debut immediately positioned Reis as the undeniable frontrunner for the vacant ONE Flyweight Submission Grappling World Title.

The golden opportunity materialized at ONE Fight Night 38 last December, where the Brazilian faced Daiki Yonekura. The 29-year-old from Tokushima, Japan, brought polished positional grappling, sharp defensive instincts, and lightning-quick recoveries to a matchup that pitted his precision directly against Reis’ relentless aggression.

Reis came out with zero intention of letting the match breathe. Chasing the guard pass from the very first exchange, he broke through with a clean knee slice and locked in a deep arm-triangle choke from side control. Yonekura miraculously survived, but the relentless attacks never stopped coming.

In the final two minutes, Reis latched onto a tight guillotine before both men tumbled into chaotic leg entanglements, scrambling furiously for the finish. After ten minutes of suffocating, high-paced pressure, the judges awarded the unanimous decision to “Baby Shark.”

The most coveted hardware in submission grappling was finally his. Reis was crowned the new ONE Flyweight Submission Grappling World Champion and was later named ONE’s 2025 Submission Grappler of the Year — a highly fitting close to a simply stunning campaign.

On Friday, May 15, Reis tests the bantamweight waters against Yuki Takahashi, incredibly hungry to conquer new territory and add yet another thrilling chapter to a legacy that is still very much being written.

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