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Ryuto “Dragon Boy” Sawada, 25, of Tokyo, Japan lost to Gustavo “El Gladiador” Balart, 34, of Santiago, Cuba at “ONE: Battleground.” It is the Cuban wrestler and mixed martial artist’s first victory in ONE Championship, a martial arts organization based in Singapore.

On July 30, 2021, ONE Championship held “ONE: Battleground” at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, Singapore. The fight card had one Muay Thai contest, one kickboxing bout and four MMA fights.

In the fourth bout of the evening, Balart and Sawada battled it out in an MMA bout in the strawweight division. Mohamad Sulaiman served as the referee.

After three five-minute rounds, Sulaiman raised the hand of Balart, who was declared the winner via unanimous decision. It improved the Cuban fighter’s professional MMA record to 9 wins and 4 losses.

Sawada now has 14 wins, 7 losses and 1 draw. He has been competing in ONE Championship since 2019.

In 2013, Sawada made his professional MMA debut and won two Vale Tudo Japan bouts. He competed in Shooto from 2014 to 2017 and in ONE Warrior Series in 2018.

“ONE: Battleground” marked Balart’s fourth ONE Championship bout. He was coming out of three consecutive losses.

In 2012, Balart represented Cuba at the Summer Olympics in London, England. In the men’s 55kg class of Greco-Roman wrestling, he defeated Ayhan Karakuş of Turkey but lost to Choi Gyu-Jin of South Korea.

Balart made his professional MMA debut in 2012 and lost to three ONE Championship opponents in 2019 namely Tatsumitsu “The Sweeper” Wada, 32, of Yamanishi, Japan, Chan Rothana, 35, of Phnom Penh, Cambodia and Robin “The Ilonggo” Catalan, 33, of Iloilo City, Philippines. He went on hiatus in 2020 amid the new coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.