On March 7th, at Kourakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan, Miki Motono will face Seika Izawa in a rematch from December of last year. Miki lost to Seika in a competitive non-title match and as a result, this match was set up with the 52kg Deep Jewels title on the line. A talented Judoka hailing from the same gym as Ayaka Hamasaki and Rena, the 26 year old Miki has big goals and a win in March will likely place her on the path to accomplishing them.
Miki took the time to answer some questions, so please take a look at our interview below.
SK: Let’s get started with your background. You have a Judo background, can you talk about that? Do you have a favorite memory from your Judo career?
Miki: Well when it comes to Judo, I started when I was 5 and did it for 18 years. When I was in high school and college, the best I did was the final 8 in Japan. My favorite memory is when I won my last prefectural tournament in elementary school. Going into the tournament I wanted to quit Judo, but because I won, it became fun and I was able to keep going.
SK: How did you get interested in MMA? When did you start training?
Miki: I used to watch Rizin a lot on TV. I thought it looked really cool but I never thought I would get into MMA. I got into it because I went to MMA practice as I thought it might help with my Judo training, it was so much fun and the new type of competition was fresh and new.
SK: Did you like MMA before you got involved? Were there any fighters that you liked?
Miki: When I was watching it on TV, I probably liked the kickboxing more than the MMA. Since I was attracted to striking, the fighters I liked were Horiguchi and Rena.
SK: How is your training recently?
Miki: I’ve recently started boxing training but I mainly train at AACC.
SK: AACC has been looking very strong recently, what’s it like training there?
Miki: I got introduced to AACC by a junior (kohai) from college. Recently, more girls have started training there so I am able to get good training done there.
SK: Have you changed your training going into this rematch?
Miki: As far as my training, I haven’t really changed anything.
SK: Your next fight is a rematch from December which was pretty close. How do you think the rematch will go?
Miki: In the first fight, I was a little too obsessed with trying to strike with her. I need to mix it up more, this is a revenge match so I need to do whatever it takes to win.
SK: Have you changed anything going into the rematch? Do you think it will end up being a striking match again?
Miki: I am more conscious about my training, thinking about what I should do more. Before the last fight, I didn’t normally watch fight videos but now I am watching more fights and I’ve gotten more interested in MMA as a result.
SK: I saw in another article that you wanted to fight for Rizin, can you talk about that? Would you want to fight at 52kg?
Miki: Every time I see Rizin live at the venue, I get goose bumps. When I watch the fights, I can be deeply moved and excited, or I can get annoyed and filled with regret, it has a lot of influence on me. I also want to be a fighter that has that kind of influence. Ideally, 52kg would be best.
SK: Do you have any other goals?
Miki: Right now, my strongest feeling is that I want to fight for Rizin. Right now I’m not really thinking of any other goals, but if I continue to get stronger and get more confident, I think I might have some more goals.
SK: Now for some non-fight related questions, I saw that you have some interesting pets on Instagram, what are they?
Miki: I have two Axolotl. (Interviewers note: at Japanese festivals there are games where kids can scoop goldfish with a net and take them home) I caught them at a scooping game like the gold fish game at festivals. Eventually I was able to get two of them.
SK: I saw in another article that during the pandemic you challenged yourself to level up your woman’s power. Can you talk about that?
Miki: I gave up on leveling up my woman’s power (laughter).
SK: Do you have any hobbies outside of training? What do you like to do?
Miki: I love eating. I especially like eating yakiniku (grilled meat), recently I’ve been addicted to Genghis Khan (grilled mutton).
SK: Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions! Is there anything you would like to say to the fans?
Miki: Thank you all for your continued support. In my next fight, I will surely get my revenge, then I will continue to aim for higher and higher and become stronger and stronger. Please look forward to it.
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