Surging knockout artist “Wolf Warrior” Hu Yong knows the clearest path to victory in his high-stakes flyweight MMA showdown with Australian standout Reece “Lightning” McLaren.

The pair of top-five ranked contenders are set to square off on Friday, May 3 in U.S. primetime at ONE Fight Night 22: Sundell vs. Diachkova on Prime Video, live from Bangkok’s iconic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium.

Hu Yong Prepares for Stand-up Battle against Reece McLaren

An explosive striker with big power in both his hands and feet, Hu will come into the contest riding a three-fight winning streak that includes two first-round knockouts. That run propelled him to the #5 ranking in ONE’s talent-rich flyweight MMA division and earned him a shot against the #4-ranked McLaren.

While “Wolf Warrior” tends to do his best work in the stand-up department, he admits that his foe is a dangerous submission artist.

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Hu says that he’s well-prepared for what the BJJ black belt will bring to the table on fight night:

“He’s a strong grappler. I’ve prepared for a lot of avoiding getting it to the ground.

“I’m sure it won’t be that easy for him to take me down, and even if he does, he’ll have a hard time controlling me on the ground, and I’ll definitely want to stay in a stand-up fight.”

Hu dismisses McLaren’s striking improvement

For his part, McLaren has spent the past few fights fine-tuning his striking under the guidance of Muay Thai legend John Wayne Parr, showing marked improvement in his ever-evolving stand-up game. Now training at Queensland’s, Hu took note of that improvement but isn’t very concerned.

According to the Chinese star, McLaren still doesn’t have the power or overall striking skill to pose a threat on the feet – areas that “Wolf Warrior” sees as an advantage for himself.

He added:

“He definitely has improved in striking, but this improvement is not enough to make him become a top striker.”

“He has poor knockout ability in striking, and he’s weak in physical strength and fitness. My advantages are heavy punches and great physical strength and fitness.”