“I have many opportunities to fight” - Itsuki Hirata eyes top atomweight contenders in next bouts

Following Itsuki Hirata’s crazy comeback victory over Lin Heqin at ONE on Prime Video 1, the doors of opportunity have only widened for the young Japanese prospect.

Itsuki Hirata touched gloves with Chinese striker Lin Heqin on August 26 and bagged the decision win after finding late success with her striking. In the dying minutes of the last round, Hirata threw a big overhand that dropped Heqin, which helped cement her case as the winner in the eyes of the judges.

Post-fight, Hirata had a chance to ponder over her future prospects within the stacked atomweight division. One of the women on her hit list is Jihin Radzuan.

In the post-fight interview, ONE Championship followed up with Itsuki Hirata about her call out of Radzuan and to elaborate on why she thinks the outcome will be different the second time around. She replied:

“I will bring my MMA fight for the next one if I get a rematch against Jihin Radzuan. I will bring my MMA fight, and I'm sure I will be above my level, way over Jihin Radzuan. So I am confident."

In the same interview, Hirata didn’t hide her desire to go toe-to-toe with the wrestling standout Ritu Phogat or any top contenders for that matter over Radzuan at the moment. The 23-year-old star said:

“Well, I actually want to fight against Ritu Phogat because I couldn't fight in the ONE Women’s Atomweight World Grand Prix. And I also want to fight against Stamp [Fairtex] as well. This atomweight division has a lot of athletes on its roster, so I have many opportunities to fight. I'm so excited.”

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The Itsuki Hirata vs. Ritu Phogat fight that never happened

Although Itsuki Hirata wants to avenge her only loss against Jihin Radzuan, ‘Android 18’ has her eyes set on ‘The Indian Tigress’ Ritu Phogat for her next challenge.

Last October, Hirata was set to fight Phogat in the ONE Women’s Atomweight World Grand Prix semi-final but the Japanese star was forced to withdraw due to an illness. Now that Hirata’s back on the winning column, she has to play the waiting game to get a better grasp on who her next opponent will be.

Radzuan handed Hirata her first major loss at ONE X in March, putting a stain on her dominant MMA record of four straight wins under the ONE banner.

The Malaysian superstar currently sits at No.5 in the rankings and is scheduled to face Stamp Fairtex on September 30 at ONE on Prime Video 2. Hirata, however, hasn’t crossed out Radzuan from her list. She hopes to cross paths with her again in the near future.