Ishiguro Steps Up To Featherweight Against Alvarenga’s Elite Pedigree
A Japanese black belt with four ONE finishes to his name meets a Brazilian rising star carrying elite grappling lineage when submission grappling returns to Bangkok next month.
Shoya Ishiguro faces Ruan Alvarenga in a featherweight submission grappling contest at ONE Fight Night 48, broadcasting live in U.S. primetime from Lumpinee Stadium on Friday, October 2. The bout marks Ishiguro’s first appearance at featherweight after previously competing across flyweight and bantamweight.
Ishiguro’s four ONE Championship victories include decision wins over fellow Japanese black belts Toshiyasu Sagae and Hiryu Niwa, but the 29-year-old ARTA Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu representative has also shown he can finish fights outright. He locked up a tightinside heel hook against Brazilian veteran Bruno Azevedo at ONE Friday Fights 64, then added a neck crank submission over Denny Sisti at ONE Friday Fights 115.
Outside the promotion, Ishiguro captured silver at the 2025 IBJJF European Championship and bronze at the IBJJF World Championship that same year, further cementing his standing among Japan’s leading BJJ competitors.
Alvarenga made an immediate impression in his own ONE debut this past August, defeating two-time IBJJF World Champion Meyram Maquine Alves by unanimous decision, his second career win over the same opponent after previously edging him at BJJ Stars 17. The result pushed the 28-year-old’s professional record to 21-6.
His grappling lineage runs deep. Alvarenga is the son of respected instructor Iran Brasileiro Alvarenga, who helped develop BJJ icon Marcelo Garcia, and later trained directly under Garcia himself in New York City. His strongest work comes from dominant toppositions, though his win over Maquine showed he can also grind out victories through sustained aggression and tactical discipline.
The stylistic contrast sets up an intriguing test. Ishiguro’s submission threats span leg entanglements and upper-body attacks, while Alvarenga’s wrestling and positional pressure look to suffocate opponents from the top. Both men will look to add a statementwin to their growing submission grappling résumés in Bangkok.
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