Ryuto “Dragon Boy” Sawada

Status: Former ONE Athlete

ONE Warrior Series contract winner Ryuto “Dragon Boy” Sawada shares his birthday with Bruce Lee, which is the origin of his unique nickname. From the time he was very little, he watched Japanese mixed martial arts events with his father and saw Japanese legend Kazushi Sakuraba in action. Inspired by his hero, he decided when he was just 4 years old that he wanted to become a professional mixed martial artist and began training in wrestling.

Sawada devoted himself fully to his martial arts training, eventually earning a black belt in karate and a purple belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He made his professional mixed martial arts debut a few months shy of his eighteenth birthday, eventually putting together a respectable winning record with the majority of his wins coming by stoppage. He even challenged for the Shooto Strawweight World title on three separate occasions against former ONE Strawweight World Champions Yoshitaka Naito and Yosuke Saruta.

Sawada joined ONE Warrior Series after his third attempt at the Shooto World Title and dominated the competition, finishing both his opponents in the first round to earn a coveted ONE Championship contract. He employs an aggressive style and always looks for the finish, and he intends to battle his way to the ONE Strawweight World Title one win at a time.