"You are a great fighter" - Champs Phetjeeja, Denice Zamboanga praise Kana Morimoto's display of grit at ONE 172

Japanese kickboxing great Kana Morimoto gave it her all in her bid to unseat ONE women's atomweight kickboxing world champion Phetjeeja Lukjaoporongtom at ONE 172 this past Sunday, March 23, but she ultimately fell short when the final bell rang in their five-round showdown. In a video shared by ONE on Instagram, 'Krusher Queen' struggled to hide her emotions as she walked back to the dressing room, showing how much winning 26 pounds of atomweight kickboxing gold inside the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, would have meant to her.

Watch the video below:

In the comments section, 'The Queen' Phetjeeja and ONE interim women's atomweight MMA world champion Denice Zamboanga sought to console her with words of encouragement, writing:

"You are a great fighter. You have a really strong heart. ✌🏻😊🙏🏻"

"Heads up @kana_silverwolf 🥺"

Screenshot of comments. [ONE Championship/Instagram]

While dejected about the defeat, Kana can hold her head high as she made Phetjeeja work extremely hard to defend her throne. The former K-1 kickboxing flyweight queen took control of the action early on, constantly switching between orthodox and southpaw stances to confuse the champion.

But as the fight progressed, the 23-year-old found her footing and soon turned the tables on Kana to retain the crown via unanimous decision.

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Kana remains grateful for opportunity to compete for gold on home soil

Kana so badly wanted to win her first ONE world championship at home, but it just wasn't meant to be. Regardless, she showed gratitude to the fans and the promotion in an Instagram post following ONE 172.

She wrote in the caption:

"I'm so sorry and thankful to everyone who supported me at the venue and believed that I would win at the PPV. I wasn't able to leave the ring with the belt. I'd like to express my sincere gratitude to CEO Chatri, and ONE Championship for making this match possible."