Three years ago, Mizuki was living in rural Japan, where she worked at a convenience store and trained at a local karate gym with her brother. At the time she was fighting for Invicta FC, but she had her sights on the UFC. This is likely due to her karate and first MMA coach, Sadanori Yamaguchi. An interesting man with a gym that would be considered quite small and rustic by American standards, one of Yamaguchi’s associates had fought and lost to Royce Gracie at UFC 2. This resulted in two things. First, all of Yamaguchi’s karate students were taught how to fight on the ground. Second, he instilled the goal of fighting in the UFC into his young students.
Three years later and Mizuki’s life has drastically changed. After a split-decision loss to Virna Jandrioba in an Invicta FC title match in March of 2018, she moved to New York City. In context, this is a move from a rural area of 375,000 people to a city of 8.4 million. An area where driving was a necessity to an area where public transportation is the norm. Despite these differences, Mizuki didn’t go through a period of culture shock or anything like that. When asked about it, she commented that it reminds her of going on trips to Tokyo, it is almost like a fun trip or expedition to the U.S.
The primary purpose for moving to New York City, was to get into the UFC. She felt that she was getting older and the chance might pass her by. So Mizuki, her brother, and Ulka Sasaki all left Japan and joined Serra Longo with this goal in mind. Serra Long offered resources and tools that she couldn’t access in Japan. At Serra Long, she had access to high level training partners, a number of which are active UFC fighters, improved physical training, and more high-level female training partners. One of the biggest differences though is the amount of time she spends training and the type of training. In Japan, she trained 8-9 hours a day in more of a sparring environment. At Serra Longo, the training sessions are shorter, more technique oriented, and involve a lot of repetition. At first these differences worried her but she has gotten used to it. Training with so many high level fighters made also increased her confidence about getting into the UFC.
In addition to Serra Longo, Mizuki also trains at Renzo’s when she is in New York. Training at Renzo’s was initially a humbling experience for her, as she had thought highly of her grappling skills beforehand. In addition to access to high level grappling training, this also created several important relationships where Mizuki can now train with fighters like Lindsey VanZandt, Jillian DeCoursey, Claudia Gadelha, Katlyn Chookagian, and Erin Blanchfield.
As many of you may be aware, Mizuki currently isn’t in New York. She is in Las Vegas. Mizuki underwent surgery on her left knee last October and is in the process of rehabilitation. When she was in New York, she lived with her manager and his wife, both of whom speak Japanese. Now, she is primarily staying at UFC Champion and Serra Longo teammate Aljamain Sterling’s house. Sterling has converted his garage into a gym and Serra Long teammates tend to stay there when they are in town. When asked about it, Mizuki joked that it is kind of like a dorm. There are always people in the living room, having a lot of fun, listening to music or dancing. When asked about living there, Mizuki remarked about how Aljamain loves everything to be clean. In fact, he returned a little quicker than they expected from his operation in LA, so Mizuki and her housemates had to rush and clean everything before he got back.
Still not able to train at 100%, Mizuki goes to the PI in the morning for rehab, then spends her afternoons training by hitting pads, shadowboxing, and stretching. While recovery is slow, she has been making improvements. In fact, she was able to lightly train with fellow Deep Jewels champion Jiyeon KIm recently. She is also able to run for the first time since she was 16.
Outside of training and rehabilitation, the PI also provides another important service for Mizuki. Her cooking skills have been described as those of a carpenter so she is taking full advantage of the meals offered at the PI, getting every meal from there , except on weekends. On the weekends, she goes to Syndicate MMA., where she was able to roll with fellow Jewels veteran Roxanne Modafferi once before Roxanne had her own knee surgery.
Naturally, the question now is whether Mizuki will stay in Las Vegas or return to New York. Mizuki herself isn’t sure. Unlike New York, in Las Vegas you need a car to get around and Mizuki is unable to get her driver’s license without returning to Japan, which is difficult due to the ongoing pandemic. However, in Las Vegas she has access to the PI, is more independent and her English skills are improving.
As mentioned above, Mizuki is recovering from a knee surgery she underwent last October. The recovery period is expected to take a year, but it is a long, exhausting, and sometimes depressing experience. Mizuki stated that sometimes it feels like she is trapped in the middle of this recovery with no end in sight. However, this isn’t something new to her. Those that have followed her career will know that Mizuki has been plagued by injuries. When asked about it, Mizuki joked about the amount of metal in her stating that she wants to become a machine. In her three years in the U.S., Mizuki has had three surgeries. These surgeries and the pandemic have actually prevented Mizuki from being able visit Japan or see her brother fight in Rizin.
What does Mizuki do in the U.S. when she isn’t training? Mizuki hangs out and talks to people in Sterling’s house, talks to her friends, Yukari Nabe and Kanako Murata, talks to her brother, indulges her interest in fashion and goes to markets. She was even recently invited to an autograph event, which allowed her to go back to New York briefly.
In three years, a lot has changed for Mizuki. Not only has she been living and training in a foreign country, she has also accomplished her goal of fighting for the UFC. It will be interesting to see where she is and what she has accomplished in another three years time.
We’d like to thank Mizuki for taking the time to talk to us about her time in America. You can follow her on Instagram and Twitter.
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