Saori Oshima Interview

Deep Mico-Weight Champion Saori Oshima is set to face off against Korean striker Si Woo Park at Deep Jewels 31 on December 19th in Tokyo, Japan. The 25 year old Oshima made her debut this year and has made waves, going 3-1 and winning the championship all within 8 months. As she is a young fighter who a number of people may not know a lot about yet, we reached out to her and asked her some general questions about her fighting background. Please enjoy.

You can follow Saori on Instagram and Twitter.

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CJ: First off, can you tell us about your background and how you became a professional fighter?

SO: I’ve practiced Judo from when I was 3 until I was 23. Then once I became a married woman, I started getting involved in MMA little by little when I turned 24.

CJ: You made your professional debut this year (2020), fought 4 times, and became the Deep Champion. That is pretty impressive. How did it feel to become a champion so quickly, did you think you could become a champion so quickly?

SO: Thank you. I don’t really feel like a champion. I felt like I wanted to fight at Micro-Weight (44kg) and that was my first fight at that weight, I thought that I would have to fight more fights in the division.

CJ: Has COVID-19 made training more difficult? How is the training at AACC?

SO: For my match back in May it was difficult to adjust because I couldn’t train at AACC or the gym nearby, I had to rent a place to train, but now I can practice and train at AACC.

CJ: Do you have any goals in MMA? Do you want to fight in Rizin or perhaps abroad?

SO: I don’t really have any goals like that yet. I practice with Ayaka Hamasaki and Rena who both compete for Rizin, so I know how high level that is. There is going to be a Deep Jewels Atom-Weight tournament in March of next year and my goal is to win that tournament and bring home the belt.

CJ: Do you have any hobbies? What do you like to do in your free time?

SO: I have twin 2 year old daughters, so I am always raising my children!

CJ: Is it difficult to be a mother and to train?

SO: It is difficult. If do too much work raising the kids, I can be too tired to train, so we are adjusting to it.

CJ: What is it like training at AACC? They have many top-level fighters. Also, how long have you been training there and how did you first start going there?

SO: Since there are many strong athletes at AACC, there is always someone preparing for a fight, so that allows you to have high quality practice and train with a sense of tension. I first came to AACC because I was introduced to it by some of my classmates from college.

CJ: For a non-fighting related question, what is your favorite Japanese food?

SO: Udon. More specifically, I like them when the noodles are hard.

CJ: Finally, anything you would like to say to the fans?

SO: It has been roughly 1 year and 7 months since I started MMA. (In my next fight) I will be able to show you how much I have grown through practice. Thank you for your support!!