Itsuki Hirata teases competing at ONE X during Japanese broadcast of ONE: Bad Blood

Itsuki Hirata has been teasing that she is going to be in action “soon” and it seems that ONE X will be the date for her return.

During the Japanese broadcast of ONE: Bad Blood, Hirata announced that she will be competing at the promotion's tenth-anniversary show on March 26.

Hirata remains unbeaten in the Circle, having defeated all five of her opponents since her arrival in 2019. Her latest victory was a unanimous decision win over Alyse Anderson at September 2021’s ONE: Empower. The win secured her a spot in the semifinals of the ONE Women’s Atomweight World Grand Prix.

Fans voted for her to face Ritu Phogat in what looked to be an explosive matchup. Unfortunately, Hirata suffered an injury close to her scheduled matchup and had to pull out of the tournament.

Phogat later advanced to the tournament final but succumbed to a surprising armbar from Stamp Fairtex.

Phogat is presumably looking for a big return to bounce back from her loss. Facing Hirata in a monumental event like ONE X could be the perfect opportunity for both fighters to continue their delayed rivalry.

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ONE X gets another world title bout

ONE X was already loaded with three world title bouts. At ONE: Bad Blood, it was announced that another world title will be on the line.

ONE bantamweight kickboxing world champion Capitan Petchyindee will defend his title against No.2-ranked Hiroki Akimoto at the promotion's 10-year anniversary show on March 26.

Capitan won the world title against current No.1-ranked Alaverdi Ramazanov at February 2021’s ONE: Unbreakable. Later in the year, he defended his belt against Mehdi Zatout at September 2021’s ONE: Revolution. He remains undefeated in ONE Super Series and has not lost since 2018.

Meanwhile, Akimoto has been on a tear since arriving in ONE Championship in 2019. He has won his last four bouts and five of six overall. His latest conquest came at the expense of a debuting Qiu Jianliang in December last year, snapping the Chinese kickboxer’s 16-fight win streak that dated back to 2016.

Find out if Akimoto can end another streak on March 26 or if Capitan can continue to assert his dominance over the division.