"She had brilliant performances" - Ayaka Miura has nothing but respect for ONE 169 opponent Macarena Aragon

Veteran atomweight contender Ayaka Miura was able to maintain her current run of form with another victory last time out.

The Japanese competitor came into ONE 169 off the back of consecutive wins knowing that a third victory could put her back into world title contention.

Despite her current momentum, Miura believed that she was in for a tough test on Nov. 8 when she welcomed Macarena Aragon to ONE Championship.

The 22-year-old Argentine accumulated an undefeated record of 3-0 before signing to the promotion and jumping right into the deep end.

Given her grappling background, this match-up was set to be an interesting battle between two specialists.

In the end, it was Miura's grappling and submission threat that once again came out on top as she incredibly secured yet another scarf-hold Americana submission, which is her signature move.

Though Aragon may have failed to get to the win on her ONE debut, Miura showed her respect in her post-fight interview inside the ring with Mitch Chilson:

"The opponent was very good at judo, she had brilliant performances before."

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Ayaka Miura is back as a serious contender

Ayaka Miura has put herself into the mix at atomweight after submitting two opponents with her signature move and defeating Itsuki Hirata via decision.

Two canceled fights with Jihin Radzuan have hurt her progress this year but regardless, 'Zombie' has been able to get her hand raised twice in 2024.

She now looks ahead to a big 2025 that after some years, could see her finally return to the title picture.

It has been nearly three years since she challenged Xiong Jing Nan for the strawweight world title in Singapore.

However, if she continues to rack up wins and submissions like she did at ONE 169 last time out, Miura is sure to be knocking on the door once again, at atomweight this time.