“I wanted to challenge myself” - Japanese striker Kana says she joined ONE Championship to fight the best of the best

Veteran Japanese kickboxer Kana Morimoto has had a lot of success in the promotion she used to compete in. She, however, wanted to continue to test herself further and made the jump to ONE Championship to battle the best of the best.

'Krusher Queen' long competed in K-1, where she established herself as a champion kickboxer and one of the best in the game. She decided to take her talents to the 'Home of Martial Arts' and achieve further success.

In an interview with ONE, 32-year-old Kana opened up about the reason she decided to join the promotion, saying:

"The opponents I wanted to fight are in ONE Championship, and there are stronger athletes than me in ONE Championship. In the final chapter of my career, I wanted to challenge myself against the strongest athletes in ONE Championship, like Anissa Meksen and Phetjeeja. That’s why I decided to join ONE Championship."

Kana made her ONE debut back in December against Meksen, losing by decision. She, however, bounced back in her second outing the following month, scoring a decision win over Moa Carlsson of Sweden.

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Kana goes for a world title at ONE 172

Kana Morimoto seeks to become a ONE world champion in front of hometown fans when she vies for the atomweight kickboxing world title this month in Japan.

She will be challenging reigning divisional queen Phetjeeja in a title match, one of five championship fights on offer at ONE 172: Takeru vs. Segawa on March 23 at the Saitama Super Arena.

Kana will try to clip Phetjeeja in her first defense of the world title she unified in March last year after she defeated erstwhile world champion and now-retired Janet Todd of the United States.

'The Queen' has been on an impressive roll, undefeated in six matches in ONE Championship to date.

ONE 172: Takeru vs. Rodtang is available live on pay-per-view via watch.onefc.com.