Japanese atomweight MMA contender eyes further improvement as long and painful road to redemption leads to ONE Friday Fights 120 victory
PUBLISHED : 16 Aug 2025 at 14:10
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Itsuki Hirata celebrates her victory at ONE Friday Fights 120 after 14 months out of ONE Championship
Itsuki Hirata admits she almost walked away from mixed martial arts – but the Japanese contender is back in the ONE Championship win column after a long and painful road to redemption.
The 25-year-old ended a 14-month absence with a unanimous decision victory over India’s Aarti Khatri at ONE Friday Fights 120 in Bangkok.
It was her first appearance since June 2024, when she suffered a shock first-round submission defeat to Victoria Souza at ONE 167 in Bangkok’s Impact Arena. The loss – her third straight – left Hirata in tears backstage and questioning her future in the sport.
“The last year has been so hard,” Hirata told the Bangkok Post. “Lots of pressure and also the result in my last fight wasn’t what I expected, and I even thought that I wanted to quit this sport.
“But now I have come back. It has been long and hard but I made it, and I won. I could hear my fans cheering for me and that means a lot. It made me want to come back to ONE to improve myself even more.”
Itsuki Hirata looks to choke out Aarti Khatri with a guillotine at ONE Friday Fights 120
Hirata, once one of ONE’s fastest-rising atomweight stars after debuting in 2019, had seen her career stall with defeats to former title challengers Ham Seo-hee and Ayaka Miura, as well as the unheralded Souza.
Though she returned to winning ways on Friday, her comeback performance was far from perfect.
“My first thing I wanted from this fight is to win, that’s my priority,” Hirata said. “Even though the content of the fight was not enough to satisfy me, I am happy.
“It’s going to be a 4 out of 10 if I have to rate my performance. I know there will be a lot of room for improvement for every aspect of my game.
“I felt lots of pressure and also I felt nervous during the fight, especially at the start, since it’s been so long I haven’t fought. But from the second round I felt I could fight my style, and I believe I should have done that since the first round.”
Itsuki Hirata breaks down in tears after getting her hand raised in victory at ONE Friday Fights 120
Talk quickly turned to her future, with Hirata eyeing a place on November 16’s blockbuster ONE 173 card in Tokyo – but she insisted she still sees herself as a work in progress.
“I need to think because lots of fights I have done have not been 10 out of 10. I still need to improve but I will keep challenging myself,” she said.
“If I work harder, I can be on the card at ONE 173, so I will keep getting better. I need more experience to improve myself, so give me anybody and I will do my best.”
AloJapan.com