Female MMA fighter addresses huge UFC acknowledgment from Dana White, eyes to emulate Khabib Nurmagomedov

Dana White sees a lot of potential in a certain Rizin titleholder who has excitedly taken aspects of Khabib Nurmagomedov's MMA blueprint. Appearing on a recent episode of Bowks Talking Bouts, Seika Izawa touched on multiple topics ahead of her looming fight against Lucia Apdelgarin at Rizin Decade on Dec. 31.

After referencing an earlier instance in her career where she mentioned how she would ideally pattern her approach after former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, Izawa explained this in specific detail when she said:

"Yeah, I think his appeal, the style is just amazing. His continuous aggression, he never stops. Continuous pressure, even on his feet, on the ground. He will grind his opponent out and he will go full on aggressive from beginning to end trying to go for that finish.

"I think that's a really cool way to fight. That is the style that I really want to look for. So, I've been kind of working on constantly being aggressive, constantly pressuring, and going for the finish until the very last second."

Check out Izawa's comments on Nurmagomedov's style (29:42) below:

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Seika Izawa's thoughts on Dan White's comments

Dana White was asked at a pre-UFC 310 press conference about Seika Izawa and if she would be a great fit for the position of someone who could kick off a hypothetical UFC atomweight division.

The 55-year-old seemed to see Izawa in that light, and the timing was especially intriguing considering the adjacent focus on Rizin during that fight week. Former RFF champion Kai Asakura vied for flyweight gold against Alexandre Pantoja in that pay-per-view main event earlier this month.

At the 3:34 mark of the embedded interview above, Izawa offered her thoughts on Dana White's comments regarding the Rizin super atomweight champion:

"Yeah, well I'm just happy that he didn't turn me down. He didn't deny my name. So you know, that's a good thing. But with my current status, I don't really have that stardom that's convincing enough for the UFC to start that division or what not.

"So right now, I think I'm focused on showing my skill sets through my performance, that I think women's atomweight could be as entertaining as any men's fight and division. So I think it's my obligation to continue to perform and show the appeal of this division."