Chihiro Sawada’s floor recreation was at its common greatest at ONE Combat Night time 39, however her putting evolution was one thing that made all of the distinction towards Natalie Salcedo.
The Japanese warrior dominated the beforehand undefeated American on her strategy to a well-deserved unanimous resolution victory dwell in America primetime, inside Bangkok’s legendary Lumpinee Stadium on Friday, January 23.
Her razor-sharp left punches allowed her to regulate the stream of their atomweight MMA tilt all through three rounds. She even threw in knees within the clinch and takedowns that neutralized any risk from the California native.
In the course of the post-event press convention, Chihiro Sawada revealed the particular coaching changes that remodeled her putting into the star of the present throughout Friday’s win.
Get the most recent updates on One Championship Rankings at Sportskeeda and extra
“Sure, this recreation, she believes that she has proven a efficiency that additionally depicts her stage of putting recreation, which was her weak point. It was Chihiro’s weak point, and for the coaching, she has been coaching with the identical individual,” the Japanese shared through translator backstage.
“She added one other MMA fighter that she skilled with for this combat on daily basis, and it is Izawa Seika. She’s a Japanese MMA fighter. Usually, they practice in their very own gymnasium in Asakusa to coach with Izawa, however she wanted to go to a different gymnasium referred to as JPP for this.”
That confidence in her putting allowed Chihiro Sawada to face and commerce with Salcedo reasonably than instantly trying to find takedowns towards the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt.
What’s on the horizon for Chihiro Sawada
Along with her win within the Thai capital final week, Chihiro Sawada improved to 11-1 in her profession. On the similar time, it earned the Japanese standout her sixth promotional victory.
Her newest triumph additionally prolonged her energetic successful streak to a few in a row after she cleared previous Macarena Aragon through submission in July final yr and Itsuki Hirata through unanimous resolution at ONE 173 in November 2025.
Whereas nothing is confirmed, it may seemingly place the 28-year-old fighter as a favourite to problem reigning ONE ladies’s atomweight MMA world champion Denice Zamboanga.
The Filipino slugger’s return has but to be introduced, however do not be stunned if the divisional queen squares off towards Chihiro Sawada on the worldwide stage subsequent.
North American combat followers who missed any of the motion can watch the total ONE Combat Night time 39 card through replay on Amazon Prime Video.
Edited by Saiyed Adeem Karim
