{"id":618956,"date":"2026-04-20T10:19:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T10:19:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/618956\/"},"modified":"2026-04-20T10:19:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T10:19:10","slug":"win-the-belt-and-leave-something-behind-ayaka-miura-chases-gold-in-all-japan-clash-with-chihiro-sawada-at-one-samurai-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/618956\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Win The Belt And Leave Something Behind\u2019 \u2013 Ayaka Miura Chases Gold In All-Japan Clash With Chihiro Sawada At ONE SAMURAI 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

At ONE SAMURAI 1<\/a>, Ayaka \u201cZombie\u201d Miura<\/a> stands on the threshold of everything she has worked for.<\/p>\n

A decisive win over fellow Japanese warrior\u00a0Chihiro Sawada<\/a> on Wednesday, April 29, at Tokyo\u2019s Ariake Arena could hand the submission specialist the next shot at reigning ONE Atomweight MMA World Champion Denice \u201cThe Menace\u201d Zamboanga<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Miura understands what this all-Japan collision represents. The 35-year-old arrives with a 16-5 record and a five-fight winning streak, four of those victories by bone-twisting submissions.<\/p>\n

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Sawada is equally dangerous, bringing a three-fight winning streak to this bout. For both fighters, the potential ONE World Title eliminator stakes make this the defining moment of their careers.<\/p>\n

The Tribe Tokyo MMA representative is fully aware of what the fight means, for herself and for the wider women\u2019s MMA scene in Japan:<\/p>\n

\u201cI usually fight overseas opponents, but this time it\u2019s a Japanese vs. Japanese matchup. But nothing really changes. I\u2019m going through fight week as usual.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really happy [Japanese fans] can see me in person. And since ONE SAMURAI will be held monthly, I think more people will get to watch and learn about me, so I\u2019m really excited.\u201d<\/p>\n

That excitement runs deeper than the fight itself. Miura fully supports ONE SAMURAI\u2019s mission to restore martial arts glory to Japan and is honored to be part of its inaugural event.<\/p>\n

Standing alongside some of Japan\u2019s greatest warriors, including Takeru \u201cNatural Born Krusher\u201d Segawa<\/a>, ONE Flyweight MMA World Champion Yuya \u201cLittle Piranha\u201d Wakamatsu<\/a>, and ONE Atomweight Muay Thai World Champion Nadaka<\/a>, only heightens that pride.<\/p>\n

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For the judo black belt, it is also a chance to carry her country\u2019s ancient warrior tradition onto a global stage.<\/p>\n

The Tribe Tokyo MMA affiliate said:<\/p>\n

\u201cBushido is the traditional Japanese spirit. Since I\u2019ve practiced judo for a long time, I\u2019ve been exposed to a lot of that discipline and respect. Martial arts may seem violent, but it\u2019s not just about that. It\u2019s about Bushido, that Japanese spirit, and I hope to share it with the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cThrough ONE SAMURAI, I hope people see how strong Japanese fighters are and how exciting their fights can be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Miura and Sawada share a history, but what awaits them in the ring carries far greater stakes.<\/p>\n

The 28-year-old Sawada has built a fearsome reputation on suffocating grappling and an ever-improving striking game, dispatching Macarena Aragon<\/a>, Itsuki Hirata<\/a>, and Natalie Salcedo<\/a> in succession to cement herself among the atomweight elite.<\/p>\n

Miura respects what her rival brings, but she has no doubt about who holds the upper hand.<\/p>\n

She said:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe only trained once and haven\u2019t had much interaction since. I think Sawada is a very well-rounded fighter. She has a wrestling base and builds her MMA around that strength, and she\u2019s very strong physically.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe I\u2019m more persistent than her, so even if she comes aggressively at the start, my strength is that I never give up.\u201d<\/p>\n

There Is Far More To Miura Than The \u2018Ayaka Lock\u2019<\/p>\n

Few fighters in mixed martial arts possess a reliable finishing move. Ayaka Miura is a different breed. Once she locks in the kesa-gatame scarf-hold, the outcome is rarely in doubt.<\/p>\n

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But the Japanese grappler is clear that it is only part of her game. She has assembled a finishing arsenal that runs far deeper, and Chihiro Sawada is about to see all of it.<\/p>\n

\u201cZombie\u201d said:<\/p>\n

\u201cMy \u2018Ayaka Lock\u2019 works on anyone. But I don\u2019t rely only on that. I have many techniques, and I can finish in many ways.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course, I can finish fights with the \u2018Ayaka Lock,\u2019 but I\u2019ve also finished with knee bars. I just haven\u2019t shown many of my techniques in fights yet, but I have a wide range of ways to finish.\u201d<\/p>\n

Miura has been here before. A ONE World Title pursuit at strawweight fell short, but the hard lessons from that campaign never faded and only sharpened her.<\/p>\n

A decisive win over Sawada unlocks the career reinvention she has been chasing. Everything the submission hunter from Saitama has ever worked for comes down to this.<\/p>\n

She declared:<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s important to win decisively. I\u2019ll win, and I truly believe the next fight will be for the title.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not naturally athletic, and I\u2019ve never been #1 at anything, so becoming #1 has always been my goal. I started martial arts late, but through ONE Championship, I\u2019ve made it this far. I want to win the belt and leave something behind.\u201d<\/p>\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At ONE SAMURAI 1, Ayaka \u201cZombie\u201d Miura stands on the threshold of everything she has worked for. A…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":618957,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[570],"tags":[64,63,249407,2842,194584,786,941,249408,785,85,152901,2753],"class_list":{"0":"post-618956","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-ayaka","11":"tag-ayaka-miura","12":"tag-chihiro-sawada","13":"tag-fighting","14":"tag-japan","15":"tag-miura","16":"tag-mma","17":"tag-sports","18":"tag-womens-mma","19":"tag-world-champion"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/618956","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=618956"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/618956\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/618957"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=618956"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=618956"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=618956"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}