Ham Seo Hee doesn’t know what the future holds for Itsuki Hirata

Ham Seo Hee is unsure where Itsuki Hirata will go following their atomweight clash at ONE Fight Night 8 last week.

After originally being scheduled to scrap at ONE 163 in November, Ham Seo Hee and Itsuki Hirata finally squared off inside the Circle with one another. Both women gave it everything they had for 15 minutes. When it was all said and done, Ham had her hand raised, handing Hirata her second career loss.

After earning her third-straight win under the ONE Championship banner, Ham spoke about the uncertain future of her opponent:

“As a fighter, I recognize that different fighters and people have different colors that they bring to the organization,” Ham said in a ONE Fight Night 8 post-fight interview. “Itsuki has her own. In my position as a fellow fighter, it's very difficult for me to tell you where to predict what her future will look like.”

Itsuki Hirata has developed a strong fan following thanks to her presence on social media. Despite a couple of recent setbacks, the Japanese standout’s popularity will certainly have fans calling for her to compete in the Circle again soon.

Additionally, ‘Android 18’ is still young and developing. She recently relocated from Japan to New York in an effort to hone her skills in anticipation of facing tougher competition.

While she came up short against Ham Seo Hee, Hirata showed significant improvement on her feet and we’re confident she will continue to develop into a world championship-caliber competitor in the future.

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Ham Seo Hee understands a fight with Angela Lee may not be in her immediate future

With her third-straight win in the books, Ham Seo Hee is ready for a shot at the ONE atomweight world championship. However, ‘Hamzzang’ recognizes that a fight with reigning atomweight queen Angela Lee may not be in her immediate future due to unfortunate circumstances.

Late last year, Angela Lee’s younger sister Victoria Lee tragically passed away, not long before the young prodigy was scheduled to make her own long-awaited return to the Circle. As a result, Angela Lee has stepped away from the Circle to focus on her family and mourn the loss that they share:

“I would definitely wish to challenge Angela Lee, but I understand that may not be a possibility, understanding some of the more sensitive circumstances that have occurred,” Ham said.

Ham’s next opponent could very well be the winner of May 5th’s atomweight scrap between No.1-ranked contender Stamp Fairtex and Alyse ‘Lil Savage’ Anderson. ONE CEO Chatri Sityodtong has already confirmed that Ham earned herself a ONE world title opportunity with a win at ONE Fight Night 8, which could be opposite the winner of the ONE Fight Night 10 match.

Before Lee is ready to return, ONE Championship could establish an interim title for the division, with Ham versus the winner of Stamp vs. Anderson being the main protagonists in that battle.