This Sunday, Seika Izawa is set to defend her title for the first time at Super Rizin 2, when she steps into the ring to face Claire Lopez. The fight is scheduled for 3 rounds and will be 1 of 4 title bouts set to take place at the historic Saitama Super Arena. Going into this fight, Izawa is coming off a submission victory in May, is undefeated, and has emerged as one of the rising talents on the Japanese MMA scene. We had a chance to chat with the 25 year champion ahead of this fight, discussing how much her life has changed since turning pro, the upcoming fight, and her goals for the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Izawa’s rise has been so quick, it’s easy to forget that she made her pro-debut back in October of 2020, meaning she’s been fighting for less than 3 years. Considering that she only made the switch to MMA because the pandemic made it impossible for her to compete in judo, MMA has drastically changed her life. When we first spoke to her in February of 2021, she was a graduate student studying education, was working a part-time job, and was training at Takamoto Dojo, all while living in a tiny $300 a month apartment in Tokyo, an apartment so small that the laundry machine was outside. During this time, she was living off a diet of easy to make dishes like furikake<\/a> gohan (seasoned rice) and sweets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n