Former ONE strawweight champion Yosuke Saruta believes he has a long road back to the title, and is hoping for a grand prix tournament to shorten the journey. The 34-year-old Japanese fighter will return to the cage at ONE: Bad Blood on February 11 inside the Singapore Indoor Stadium, where he will take Gustavo Balart, a former Olympic Greco-Roman wrestler for Cuba. The bout with Balart will mark Saruta’s opportunity to rebound from a first-round knockout loss to reigning strawweight king Joshua Pacio. It was his second KO defeat by the Filipino, and one that he suspects may have dashed his title dreams for the time being. “For my last fight against Pacio, I was preparing for that for over a year, but I wasn’t actually able to display what I had been training for,” Saruta (21-10-3) told the Post on Friday. “Before I was able to show that, I got knocked out. It was very unfortunate.” “[Pacio] made a statement KO against me,” he added. “As of right now I don’t really intend on rematching against him any time soon. “I’m just focused on winning my next match. That’s my primary goal.” ONE: Full Circle line-up revealed, David Branch debuts If Saruta gets by Balart in Singapore, he’ll have some interesting options at his fingertips. Chief among them will be a fight with American wrestler Jarred Brooks, who has burst into strawweight title contention with lopsided wins over Lito Adiwang and Hiroba Minowa in his first two ONE Championship bouts. “If I win, there’s Jarred Brooks, there’s Bokang [Masunyane], there’s [Hiroba] Minowa,” he said. “In Japan, I actually trained with [Brooks] about five years ago. He really made a strong impression – just how talented he is. A part of me wants to test just how much stronger I’ve got in the past five years and how I match up with him now. “He does remember me. I think more than friends [we’re] more like rivals than anything.” Saruta is also holding out hope that former UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson, who now fights for ONE, will ultimately drop down to the strawweight division. “I want him to drop down for sure,” he said. “It’s been my dream to fight against Demetrious Johnson. So I think if he were to drop down a weight class, I would be closer to realising that match-up.” ONE: Pacio enjoying Brooks trash talk, open to title fight Whether Johnson makes the drop or not – it seems unlikely at this stage of his career – the ONE strawweight division has never been more crowded. In fact, Saruta believes it’s the perfect time for a grand prix tournament in the weight class, which would give him the chance to reassert himself as a top contender in a short period of time. “There’s a lot of strong fighters in the division,” he said. “As my next step I want to request a strawweight grand prix to gather everyone together.” Saruta’s first priority, of course, is getting by Balart (9-4) in Singapore. He respects his opponent, but does not seem daunted by the Cuban wrestler’s skills. “I saw him live, and in his fight, I was really impressed by his spirit,” Saruta said. “Despite having a short range in striking he compensated with impressive wrestling skills. “I feel like I want to test my own wrestling against a former Olympic wrestler. I’m not running away from his wrestling at all. If anything, I want to see how my wrestling, my grappling stacks up against his. “I want to see who’s more aggressive, who’s more well-rounded, who’s more experienced.”