{"id":611680,"date":"2026-04-16T22:59:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T22:59:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/611680\/"},"modified":"2026-04-16T22:59:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T22:59:08","slug":"my-true-self-will-come-out-itsuki-hirata-on-her-struggles-and-comeback-at-one-samurai-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/611680\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018My True Self Will Come Out\u2019 \u2013 Itsuki Hirata On Her Struggles And Comeback At ONE SAMURAI 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

Japanese fan favorite Itsuki \u201cAndroid 18\u201d Hirata<\/a> has opened up about stepping away from mixed martial arts, rediscovering her love of fighting, and the mission that awaits her at ONE SAMURAI 1<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The 26-year-old will face Ritu \u201cThe Indian Tigress\u201d Phogat<\/a> in an atomweight MMA clash on Wednesday, April 29, live from the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan.<\/p>\n

Hirata\u2019s career has been a tale of two halves. The judoka burst onto the professional MMA scene with an electrifying run, winning six of her first seven matches and establishing herself as one of the most exciting young talents in ONE Championship\u2019s atomweight MMA division.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Then came a painful stretch that tested her resolve to its limits, dropping four of her next five contests and pushing her to a breaking point few athletes are willing to admit.<\/p>\n

She confessed:<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a time when I stopped training and stepped away from fighting for a while. Back then, I kept losing, and I just lost confidence and didn\u2019t feel like I could push myself toward a fight. I wasn\u2019t enjoying it at all, and there was a time I didn\u2019t even want to do it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I looked like I was having more fun in my debut fight. I fought without fear, but after experiencing losses, I started becoming more cautious and a bit more afraid.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Tokyo native knows the joy that made her special in the early days of her promotional tenure is still inside her, and she is determined to bring it back out in front of her hometown crowd.<\/p>\n

Hirata recognized that fear and anxiety have held her back from performing at her best, and breaking through that mental wall has become just as important as any physical preparation.<\/p>\n

The judoka shared:<\/p>\n

\u201cI still want to show more in my fights. And to do that, I have to break through my fear and anxiety and show everything I\u2019ve got, as much as I possibly can in the fight. But that\u2019s kind of the wall I\u2019m facing right now, so it\u2019s not easy. But once I overcome it, I think my true self will come out more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hirata Plans To Exploit Phogat\u2019s Weakness Outside Of Wrestling<\/p>\n

Itsuki Hirata has studied Ritu Phogat\u2019s fighting style extensively during her preparation for April 29. <\/p>\n

The Japanese star recognizes exactly what makes the Indian wrestler so dangerous, but she has also identified some glaring weaknesses she plans to exploit. More specifically, she believes Phogat\u2019s one-dimensional approach creates massive vulnerabilities she can take advantage of.<\/p>\n

Hirata explained:<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s strong in wrestling \u2013 you can tell from her background, especially with her takedowns. Rather than striking, her grappling is strong. I think her wrestling is her biggest weapon, plus her physical strength, so I\u2019m definitely cautious about that. Her strength is her wrestling, so I want to outperform her in other areas.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think her weakness is outside of wrestling. I still see her as a wrestler, and I\u2019ve just been training to execute what I want to do. So, I have not really changed.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Phogat excels at achieving takedowns and maintaining top position, the Tokyo native believes her judo background provides more tools for finishing fights once the grappling exchanges begin.<\/p>\n

Hirata expects \u201cThe Indian Tigress\u201d to immediately pursue takedowns, attempting to drag the action into the wrestling-heavy exchanges where she feels most comfortable. \u201cAndroid 18,\u201d however, welcomes those scenarios rather than fearing them.<\/p>\n

The Japanese star offered:<\/p>\n

\u201cI expect her to grapple, but in those situations, I believe I\u2019ll have my chances, so I want to be fully prepared even if I get taken down. In striking and on the ground, I feel like I have more options, but in the end, you never know until you engage.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to finish the fight with my grappling, which is my strength, and get the win, so I can move forward to the next one. I want to win and share that moment with everyone. I want to go all out from the start, focus only on winning, and fight hard for five minutes in all three rounds.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Japanese fan favorite Itsuki \u201cAndroid 18\u201d Hirata has opened up about stepping away from mixed martial arts, rediscovering…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":611681,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[570],"tags":[64,63,786,785,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-611680","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mma","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-fighting","11":"tag-mma","12":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/611680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=611680"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/611680\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/611681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=611680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=611680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=611680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}