This Sunday at Professional Shooto 2025 Vol. 4, former Deep Jewels champion Aya Murakami is set to make her Shooto debut in the opening round of this year’s Infinity League tournament. Across the cage from her will be the former kickboxing champion, Erika Gibo, setting up a classic grappler versus striker showdown. Ahead of the match, I had an opportunity to go to Aya’s gym in Tokyo, where we were able to chat about her career, her goals moving forward, and some of her interests outside of the sport. A transcript of our conversation is below.
CJ: Hey Aya, this is going to be your first fight in Shooto. Can you talk about why you joined the promotion?
Aya: Yeah, up till now, I’ve fought a bunch of women in Deep, but the gym I belong to is actually a Shooto gym and I had this feeling that I wanted to contribute something. Plus, in Shooto there are women I haven’t fought before, so that was another reason. Now that I’m in Shooto, I want the belt, so the first thing I’m going to do is fight in the Infinity League, win it, then my goal is to fight for the title.
CJ: Speaking of the Infinity League, what are your thoughts on it?
Aya: Well, when you’re a fighter, it’s no good when you don’t have a fight scheduled, so I’m happy that with the Infinity League, I essentially have my schedule set for the year. Also, all the participants have already been determined, so that makes it easier to prepare.
CJ: Is there anyone you’re looking forward to facing?
Aya: I’m looking forward to the strikers, that’s why I think “Sunday’s” fight with Erica is going to be good. Up till now, my striking hasn’t been that good, but I’ve been working on it a lot, so I’d like to use it in our fight if I can.
CJ: What do you think about the tournament format and the rules?
Aya: I think the best thing about MMA is the finish, so I like the points system in the Infinifty League. For me personally, I like to finish in the 2nd round.
CJ: Is that because you want more time in the cage?
Aya: Yeah. Plus, that way, I can watch my opponent’s movements during the match and decide how I’ll respond. I usually have a strategy, but sometimes things don’t go according to plan, so I think about what I can do and can’t do and then decide what to do next.
CJ: You mentioned your striking, can you talk about your striking a little bit more?
Aya: Up till now, I’ve been prone to getting hit, so I want to show that I’ve gotten better at defending myself and countering properly.
CJ: That’s interesting. Back to the tournament, the readers might not be aware, but Super Atomweight in Shooto is not like Rizin or Deep, it’s at 50kg/110lbs. How do you feel about fighting at that weight for the first time?
Aya: I’m looking forward it! I’ve competed at 49kg before, but not 50. If my opponent is bigger than me, I’ll be smaller, so I can use my speed and dexterity, so I’d like to fight using that.
CJ: You won’t be cutting in weight, right?
Aya: That’s right, I don’t really cut weight.
CJ: I want to go back to a comment you made earlier, about wanting to fight for the belt. Can you talk about that and your goals in MMA overall?
Aya: My next goal is the belt. Shooto has two belts near me, Atomweight and Super Atomweight, so either one of those is fine. Once I get one of those, I wouldn’t have a problem if I kept fighting in Shooto, but what I really want to to is go to a bigger promotion. Like in Deep, you can go to Rizin, so I want to show that if you win in Shooto, you can also go to a bigger promotion. I think doing that will be beneficial to Shooto as well.
CJ: Since there is both Atomweight and Super Atomweight, is there one that interests you more?
Aya: At Atomweight, Aira Koga is the champion and at Super-Atomweight they have Ayaka Watanabe. To me, the only way to go is to try and surpass Ayaka. Don’t get me wrong, I think Aira is strong, but I want to take on Ayaka because I think she’s a really strong fighter, and I want to fight the strongest fighters I can. I would love to challenge myself and try to strike with her, but of course I want to grapple with her too.
CJ: Yeah, she has been very impressive. You also mentioned wanting to fight for a bigger promotion, do you want to fight for Rizin?
Aya: I’d love to experience fighting for Rizin, I want to go out into the ring in cosplay.
CJ: That’s true! Speaking of cosplay, can you talk about that a little?
Aya: I haven’t been able to cosplay recently. I have someone who makes costumes for me now, so I’ve ordered some for characters I want to dress up as. I’ll be using them in my next fight and this summer at a comic convention.
CJ: Do you always have your outfits made?
Aya: I usually buy costumes or have them made. I went to Comiket last year and it was so much fun. There were a lot of people, but I got there kind of late, so I couldn’t really relax and take it in. Last year, I also went to Tokyo Big Sight. I was able to made a lot of friends at Comiket. There are people there who like to take photos and people that do martial arts, plus its fun to just look at all the stuff there. There are so many interesting cosplayers.
CJ: Who’d you go as?
Aya: Last year I went as Haruhi Suzumiya from the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya and Vegapunk from One Piece.
CJ: Can you talk about what going to a convention in Japan is like compared to abroad?
Aya: The difference between Comiket in Japan and conventions overseas is the atmosphere. I think that people at both generally do the same thing, but they are way more serious in Japan. I went to a convention in Hong Kong once, and there were some amazing people there, but there are even more amazing people in Japan.
CJ: Do you go to have your picture taken?
Aya: Yeah, when I go to Comiket, I cosplay and a lot of people take my picture. I’ve been to a lot of conventions. As I mentioned, last year I went to Hong Kong in the summer and Comiket in the winter.
CJ: Outside of cosplay, I get the impression that you’re involved in a lot of things. Can you talk about that?
Aya: These days, I am doing a lot. Outside of cosplay, I’m doing martial arts, social media stuff, the muscle girls bar, ect. There is also some other work I help out with. But my main focus is martial arts, which I enjoy. Previously, I did enjoy working as a software engineer, but I don’t like it as much as martial arts because I was working for someone else. I feel more motivated when I’m working for myself, which is what I’m doing in martial arts.
CJ: You also work at the Muscle Girls Bar, which has become really popular with tourists.
Aya: I work there about once a month. There are a lot of foreign customers there, so it’s a good chance for me to practice my English. Because of that, I’ve been able to use more English on social media, which has caused my number of foreign followers to grow. Plus, there are a lot of nice girls at the bar, so it’s fun and I can practice a lot of English. I have to work really hard to communicate with foreign customers in English, so it makes me want to study more. One of the ways I study is by watching foreign TV dramas at home, shows like Romeo and Juliet, Pirates of the Caribbean, Prison Break, Suits, and The Simpsons. I really like Maggie, she’s cute. I watched the Simpsons as a child, and still like it today.
CJ: Didn’t you try to also stream on Twitch?
Aya: Streaming on Twitch was difficult. That’s why I prefer Youtube, Instagram, Tiktok… apps like that. I have the most followers on instagram, I have a lot of fans there from overseas and they send me messages. I don’t know why, but a lot of them want to be grappled by me?
CJ: You really do a lot, from being a software engineer, to the bar, to streaming, to fighting. Have you thought about what you want to do when you retire from MMA?
Aya: When I retire, I want to be a powerlifter or bodybuilder. I also want to focus more on cosplay.
CJ: I’m sure some of the girls at the muscle girl bar can help you with that. Speaking of your hobbies, you recently got a new tattoo on your hand, can you talk about that?
Aya: There is an anime called Fate where the characters use magic and it appears on their hands. That’s why I wanted to have a tattoo here (points to her hand)… The character I like is Mordred, she’s cool, never gives up, and is really strong willed. But that’s just one, there are a lot of characters I like. I also have a full metal alchemist tattoo (points at her leg). I also like Snoopy (points at calves) and stars and stuff related to space (points at arm). I also have a Cardcaptor Sakura tattoo. I like magic, so I like anime that have magical elements.
CJ: How did you get into tattoos?
Aya: I first got into tattoos because my boyfriend had a tattoo. I went with him to the tattoo parlor and he asked me if I wanted to try it, so I did. When I got it, my mother got really mad at me. So after that I didn’t get another one for a while. I think I got the first one when I was 20 and the second one when I was 26.
CJ: Don’t some people look on tattoos negatively in Japan?
Aya: There are some places that don’t allow people with tattoos, but it hasn’t really been a problem. Most people don’t mind in the countryside and I can cover my tattoos with tape if I have to. I also use private hot springs and saunas to get around it.
CJ: They say that once you get a tattoo, its kind of addicting and you start thinking about your next tattoo immediately, have you thought about your next one?
Aya: I’m already thinking about my next tattoo! it would be an homage to my father. He had a Japanese-style flower on his thigh, so I want to get the same thing.
CJ: That would be a great homage. Speaking of your family, you’re originally from Shikoku. Can you talk about moving to Tokyo? Did you get into BJJ before you moved?
Aya: I’m from Tokushima and I got into BJJ there when I was around 20. When I was 24, my teacher went abroad and wasn’t around much, so without a teacher, I didn’t really practice that often. When he was there, he was a good source of motivation. On Tokushima, there wasn’t really a job I wanted to do, so I came to Tokyo to be a software engineer. Well, I actually came to Saitama first for a couple years, then I moved to Tokyo, but I knew someone who was a software engineer and they’d told me about it, so I was interested. I’ve always enjoyed and loved making things, so that was why I wanted to do work like that. I also wanted to try something I’d never done before. It was the same with BJJ, I’d never competed in sports before so I wanted to try it. So I ended up getting a blackbelt without any sports experience. Well, I guess I did a little Judo in elementary school and competed in the annual sports day event at school, but I didn’t do anything in middle or high school.
CJ: Can you talk more about your training when you were on Tokushima?
Aya: Oh yeah, I practiced quite a bit. At first I couldn’t do anything, so I trained 2-3 times a week in the morning or afternoon and every night but Sunday. I did this for like 5 years. I was doing some strength training too.
CJ: You really dived into it. I also want to come back to your comment about not competing in sports before. A lot of fighters come from a Judo, wrestling, or Karate background, so do you ever feel like you have to catch up to them, experience wise?
Aya: That’s true. But I’m not in a hurry or anything like that. Because I go at my own pace. I enjoy it. If I put too much pressure on myself, I’ll get exhausted, so I prefer to do it with the feeling that I’m happy when I can do something that I couldn’t do well before. That’s why it’s not hard. Sometimes other people say that I’m working hard, but even then, I’m just enjoying it. I work hard because it’s fun when I can pull off whatever I was working on or win.
CJ: You don’t seem to let pressure get to you much. I’ve noticed that some Japanese fighters put way too much pressure on themselves to win ect.
Aya: I don’t feel much pressure. For example, if the goal is too far away, there might be pressure but if I can clear one goal at a time on my way to a bigger goal, then there’s no problem. I really value doing things at my own pace. Of course I want to accomplish my goals quickly and improve quickly, but I don’t feel pressure. I think its better to enjoy it and do it carefully, one at a time. If I lose or fail, I can just win next time. Of course its sad to lose, but losing is also experience. I think its fine to collect data like that, I lost because of this and then learn from that. Bad feelings aren’t helpful, even after a loss, you just have to try again.
CJ: I also wanted to ask you about being a woman in the sport. How do people react when they hear you’re a fighter?
Aya: Even though there are some people that think women who fight are scary, women have fought throughout history, so I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it. Sometimes fans talk to me, my normal friends from back home have said that it’s scary that I fight and other times they say things like, lets arm wrestle lol. But if I just dress normally, no one knows I do martial arts or anything like that, so it’s fine.
CJ: What are your thoughts on the state of women’s MMA right now?
Aya: I feel like there are more fighters than before. But in Rizin, the number seems to be decreasing, so I hope it will start increasing there. It feels like there are more women in One. Outside of MMA, there are alot of women doing BJJ in Japan. I feel like there are a lot of women interested in grappling, especially recently. I think its strange that MMA isn’t popular for women but BJJ and kickboxing is.
CJ: It’s funny that you mention One, I was curious if you were interested in fighting abroad?
Aya: I’m interested, even though there would be a difference in our body sizes, since I’m so small. I want to take on the challenge, like Oshima and Sawada, so I’d like to go see what it’s like.
CJ: That would be great. Well, I wanted to thank you for welcoming me to your gym and taking the time to answer my questions. Is there anything you’d like to say in closing?
Aya: I’m often asked why I went from Deep to Shooto, but I’ve been working hard at this gym, so I want to contribute to Shooto. I want people to see my success at Shooto. I’ve been taken care of by Deep, but I’m looking forward to my activities at Shooto. I’ll be putting on some interesting matches, so I’d be happy if you’d all support me.
Aya fights this Sunday, 4:30 a.m ET in the US. Shooto fights are available on Ameba, which means you will likely need a VPN to watch it outside Japan.
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