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    “Mountain climbing, swimming in rivers” – Hiroyuki Tetsuka reveals the rugged, nature-based origins of his ‘Japanese Beast’ moniker

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    Japanese knockout artist Hiroyuki Tetsuka is known as the ‘Japanese Beast’ for a reason. The origin of that nickname, however, has very little to do with the gym.

    The former Pancrase welterweight champion built his reputation on raw physicality, suffocating pressure, and the kind of relentless cardio that few in the division can match.

    Climbing, swimming, and navigating uneven terrain have shaped his body into a far different machine than most professional fighters develop through structured training alone.

    In an exclusive interview with ONE Championship ahead of his return, ‘Japanese Beast’ opened up on exactly where that natural conditioning comes from.

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    “Well, whether I’m actually the ‘Japanese Beast,’ I’m not totally sure, but I’m in a fairly rural environment, so I train outdoors in nature a lot. Mountain climbing, swimming in rivers, it feels like playing, but it naturally becomes training,” Hiroyuki Tetsuka said.

    Hiroyuki Tetsuka is ready to remind Kade Ruotolo why he’s known as ‘Japanese Beast’ on May 15

    The Yamada Dojo-TGFC martial artist returns to the ring in a pivotal lightweight MMA clash against Kade Ruotolo at The Inner Circle on May 15 in Bangkok’s Lumpinee Stadium.

    That evening, ‘Japanese Beast’ will seek to build momentum after stunning former ONE lightweight MMA world champion Shinya Aoki at ONE 173 in Tokyo last November.

    Hiroyuki Tetsuka, 36, rarely leaves his fights to the judges. In fact, all six of the Japanese athlete’s previous victories in the promotion have come inside the distance.

    He will, however, need to bring more than his knockout tools into this clash if he wants to become the first fighter to halt Kade Ruotolo’s perfect start to the all-encompassing discipline.

    The 23-year-old American, the promotion’s lightweight submission grappling world champion, has racked up an unblemished 3-0 run in the discipline with three first-round submission wins against Nicolas Vigna, Ahmed Mujtaba, and Blake Cooper.

    Fight fans with a paid monthly subscription can catch all the action from The Inner Circle on May 15 exclusively at live.onefc.com.