Ben Woolliss Unimpressed By Former ONE World Title Challenger Yuki Yoza: “I’ve Read His Patterns”
A fighter who nearly lost everything to illness is not about to lose momentum to one bad scorecard.
Ben “The Problem” Woolliss meets former K-1 Champion Yuki Yoza in a bantamweight kickboxing showdown at The Inner Circle 22 on Friday, July 17. The card streams live for members from Bangkok’s historic Lumpinee Stadium.
The 32-year-old Englishman announced himself with a first-round destruction of former MMA king John Lineker in his promotional debut this past March. He dropped a hard-fought unanimous decision to former World Champion Petchtanong Petchfergus in May, but that defeat has done nothing to dim his fire.
“Looking back, I think there were more positives for me to take from that fight. I pushed him to three rounds. There were some things I could have done better, but there were also things I did that were pretty impressive,” Woolliss told onefc.com.
“But I’m not losing sleep over it. I’m just focused on fixing the shortcomings from that fight, tightening up my defense, and working on my attacks against Yoza.”
Yoza enters on the back of a three-fight winning streak against elite opposition, a run only recently halted by reigning World Champion Jonathan Haggerty at ONE SAMURAI 1 this past April. Woolliss understands exactly what beating a name of that caliber would mean.
“Yoza is another top opponent. And I’m glad ONE Championship came through and gave me an amazing fight. I’ve studied what he does best. I’ve read his patterns. But I’m prepared for everything that he brings,” he said.
“Being at Soma is like a 24/7, 365-day fight camp. I have everything I need, whether it’s recovery or physios or my nutritionist. So, I’m perfectly dialed in to be able to put my best foot forward and compete.”
Woolliss has spent his camp dissecting exactly how Yoza likes to operate, from his calf kicks to his tendency to close distance behind them.
“From what I’ve seen, I can say that he does not give room for any of his opponents to operate. He loves to close the distance behind those calf kicks of his, and immediately try to swarm you with follow-up shots,” the Englishman said.
“But he doesn’t really do much of a great job with his hands. He does hit you, but it doesn’t seem like anything that will entirely rock me. That said, I cannot get careless against someone who has just as much explosiveness as I do inside the pocket.”
Seven years battling Crohn’s disease taught Woolliss patience, and he insists the fighter stepping into Lumpinee Stadium this time is sharper than the one fans have seen so far.
“Fans can expect a lot more new weapons from me in this fight. Throughout the seven years that I was away due to Crohn’s disease, I have leveled up every single day behind the scenes,” the Grimsby native revealed.
“The discipline and intensity are the same here. I’ve worked my socks off to improve. Whether it’s the right hand or the calf kicks that helped me knock out Lineker, everything will be far more dangerous and sharper.”
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