Itsuki Hirata (24, Japan), the winner of season 3 of the reality program ‘Fighting Proxy War’, has changed. The image of him clamoring to beat the legendary fighter Ham Seo-hee (36) disappeared for now.
Asia’s largest organization ‘ONE Championship’ will hold ‘ONE Fight Night 8’ on March 25 at Singapore Indoor Stadium (capacity: 12,000). Hirata faces off against Ham Seo-hee at the mixed martial arts atom level.
The two were scheduled to face off at ‘One Championship 163’ in November 2022. However, the match with Ham Seo-hee was canceled as Hirata failed to pass the weigh-in.
In an interview with the One Championship official website, Hirata said, “I was thrilled with the renegotiation offer. I just want to thank the organizers for giving me another chance. Ham Seo-hee, thank you for waiting.”
Ham Seo-hee is a world class ranked No. 1 in the world by the third quarter of 2021. She also won two consecutive victories over Dennis Samboanga (26, Philippines), who is third in the One Championship, and she is ranked second in the official rankings.
She dominated the Japanese stage by reaching the top of DEEP Jewels in 2013-2014 and Raijin in 2019. When discussing the history of women’s mixed martial arts, no matter how underestimated it is, it is a legend that must be included in the top 30.
When the 2022 match was confirmed, Hirata shouted, “I will enter the official ranking by defeating Ham Seo-hee.” The South China Morning Post안전놀이터 a daily newspaper in Hong Kong at the time, said, “It was a confrontation that Hirata kept requesting for One Championship and was concluded. She has been telling me that if she wins, she will give me the right to challenge for the title.”
Ham Seo-hee said ahead of ‘One Championship 163’, “There are many great fighters in the atom class. Hirata seems to think it’s easy to enter the official rankings. He seems to be greedy or sets his goals too high,” revealing his uncomfortable planting.
Hirata said, “Playing against Ham Seo-hee means that I have a great chance to reach the top of the One Championship. I will enter the game with the mindset of a challenger and show my skills.”
In 2018, Hirata defeated ▲Double G Atomweight Champion Park Bo-hyun (Korea) ▲K-1 -45kg title challenger Mio Tsumura (Japan) ▲DEEP -44kg title challenger Mizuki Furuze (Japan) to qualify for the One Championship. Reached the top of Fighting Proxy War season 3.
It is noteworthy that at the One Championship, she defeated Total Warrior Combat Atomweight Champion Alice Anderson (USA). His record in mixed martial arts, including 1 win in amateur and 3 victories in proxy fighting, is 10 wins and 1 loss.