Eko Roni Saputra Ready To Claim His Place Among The ONE Championship Flyweight Elite In 2023

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Singapore, January 4: Eko Roni Saputra secured another clean sweep in 2022, and he is eyeing even bigger and better things this coming year in ONE Championship.

"Dynamite" extended his winning run to seven fights this past year, needing less than a round in both of his two submission wins over Chan Rothana and Yodkaikaew Fairtex.

The multiple-time Indonesian National Wrestling Champion is happy with his accomplishments across his 2022 campaign and believes he is primed to claim his place among the top echelon of ONE's stacked flyweight division in 2023.

"2022 has been fruitful for me. I see this year as a massive accomplishment. There are people who underestimated me every time I fought, like when I faced Chan [Rothana] and Yodkaikaew [Fairtex]. They had always considered me as a nobody," Saputra said.

"After all the time, discipline, hard work, and hard training, these are all my accomplishments for 2022. For me, personally, 2022 was good to close the chapter on [fighting] the lower ranks. Now, it's time to be among the top ranks."

The Evolve MMA standout has never been one to call out opponents by name, but he does have one on his radar - Adriano Moraes.

An offhand comment from the former flyweight king drew the ire of Saputra, and he would now like to settle the score in the Circle.

"My wife actually told me not to [say this publicly] yet because I am a bit furious with a statement this person made when I won against Liu Peng Shuai. He said that my opponent was very easy to beat, but he erased the comment [on social media]. It is [Adriano] Moraes. That is why, after my next fight, I want to call him out," he said.

"I told my wife, 'I want this person to face me because he underestimated me.' It doesn't mean that I want to fast-track myself to the top, no. I just want to face the person who undermined me."

Moraes has his hands full with preparation for his ONE Flyweight World Title trilogy bout against Demetrious Johnson at ONE on Prime Video 10, slated for 6 May, so the unranked Saputra will need to bide his time and potentially crack the top five before an opportunity with "Mikinho" can potentially materialize.

But though a matchup with Moraes isn't imminent, the Indonesian star feels that his opportunity may not be far away.

"Let everyone else say that I have a great ambition to go against Moraes, but I am confident. I will put him to sleep as soon as possible. I mean, he erased his comment. If he had the guts, he shouldn't have erased the comment. If he wanted to say that, then let it be," Saputra said.

"Of course, I am totally fired up. I will call him out [after my next fight] because there is still something unsettled here."

Source: Media Release