A couple of months ago, I took a train to Tokyo, made my way to Shibuya, and after a short walk, came across some unassuming stairs that led down to a basement. From the street, the only things that gave away where they led were some flyers for MMA lessons, Reversal Gym, and Me, We. However, once I made my descent, I saw one of the unmistakable signs of an MMA gym, pads and gloves drying outside.
Inside, just past the entrance, an Invicta FC championship belt sat proudly on a shelf. To the left, the familiar sight of matted floors and walls marked the training space. I was there to see one of Japan’s best fighters train with her new team, Saori Oshima. I had seen her train before, but this was the first time in this new environment, under a new coach, with different sparring partners.
Now, months later, Oshima is just days away from a rematch with Moeri Suda that will have significant consequences for the winner. While not official, it has been heavily insinuated that the winner will face Seika Izawa, the consensus number 1 atomweight and superatomweight in the world.
With the importance of the upcoming match, it felt like the right time to share excerpts from a conversation I had with Oshima after that training session. We spoke about her career trajectory, competing overseas, the pressures of being a mother and wife, her thoughts on Izawa, and how much longer she sees herself in this sport.
Becoming the Little Giant
CJ: Can you talk about the nickname they gave you at Black Combat, Little Giant?
Oshima: I thought of that myself. They told me to come up with a nickname, so I came up with Little Giant. I think everyone at that event came up with their own.
CJ: Really? I just assumed the promotion chose them. How did you come up with Little Giant?
Oshima: Hmm, well I have this image of being able to fight even though I’m small, so that’s how. It was one of those things where I didn’t really have a lot of time to decide.
CJ: Well, it seems kind of perfect. Wasn’t that around the time you fought Salt?
Oshima: Oh really? Yeah, that’s right. (laughter)
CJ: Speaking of the Salt fight, can you talk about what it’s like going up as far as 52kg to fight?
Oshima: To be honest, I didn’t really want to fight at 52kg. But in Jewels, at 47kg, I’d already fought in the tournament and fought most of the decent fighters, so when I was talking to Saeki and others at Jewels, we heard that Salt was going to fight on the Hokkaido Rizin show and even though I’d be fighting on her home turf, I wanted the fight, because I didn’t have anything lined up.
CJ: So you’ve fought at 52kg once. Is it something you want to do again?
Oshima: (laughter) It might be kind of difficult against fighters from abroad, but I’d do it against a Japanese opponent if I wasn’t able to find a fight again. I want to fight consistently, so if there was no one at 44, 47, or 49kg, I’d do it. To be honest, I’d like to fight at 44kg. But I’ve accepted that I can’t do it, so I have no choice but to fight at other weight classes and tell myself that’s where I belong.
CJ: I get the impression that you try to get these fights with Rizin, like asking to fight Salt and when Hamasaki got injured.
Oshima: Well, I was at the practice where Hamasaki got injured. Everyone was talking about it, wondering if she’d be able to fight. Even me, I couldn’t sleep that night. I knew there weren’t a lot of fighters around who could cut the weight in such a short time and I didn’t want another fighter to get the chance instead of me. I was also coming off of a loss. So I told Abe-sensei at AACC that if Hamasaki can’t fight, I wanted to. Shortly after, Rizin contacted Saeki and I was offered the fight.
However, I only had about 2 weeks to prepare and I had already made plans to go to South Korea for 3 days with a friend. I debated canceling the trip, but Abe told me to go and enjoy the trip, then we’d prepare once I got back. So I went to South Korea, and while I was there, I ran every morning in the hotel gym. Outside of that, I enjoyed the trip with my friend.
CJ: That’s interesting. I kind of want to change the topic and ask about your thoughts on the current state of the women’s scene in MMA. Is it difficult for you to get fights?
Oshima: Well, if I only wanted to fight in Japan, I think a promotion like Jewels would consistently schedule matches for me, but I have a contract with Invicta, so that makes things uncertain and it makes scheduling a lot harder for me specifically. Contract negotiations and visa processing can lead to delays and fights also get postponed, so it makes it difficult to schedule.
Going Abroad
CJ: You’ve fought for Black Combat and Invicta now. Why do you want to compete abroad?
Oshima: I’ve been interested in it for a while. MMA is very different in Japan when compared to abroad. I felt the same way in my Judo days. I started with Judo in the countryside of Shimane. Later, when I moved to the city in middle and high school, my horizons broadened and I saw a new world. When I got into MMA, I was interested in what was happening in America and other places.
At that time, the fighters at AACC were mainly focused on fighting abroad. There was Sawada who wanted to go to One and Motono who wanted to go to the UFC. I also wanted to compete abroad, but I couldn’t bring myself to say anything because I have children. If I go abroad, that means I’d have to leave them for a week or something so it seemed impossible.
But as I continued to think about it, my children got a little older, and I was finally able to tell my husband that I wanted to fight abroad. It took about a year from when I started thinking about it to when I said it out loud. My family was very supportive. Fighting abroad was a new world for me, so I was very excited to see how far I could go.
CJ: If I remember correctly, you told me before that you couldn’t fight abroad?
Oshima: That’s right, I kept saying that (laughter), like I wasn’t interested in it.
CJ: The first time you fought abroad was for Black Combat. What was that like?
Oshima: Before I fought for Black Combat, I had been looking to fight for Invicta, but it didn’t really materialize. So I decided to go to Black Combat instead. Even though it was my first fight abroad, there wasn’t a time difference, so it was a great learning experience before going to the U.S. The press conference was a week before the fight, so I went straight to Korea and kept training. Since I didn’t have to cut weight, I kept practicing right up till the fight. I was able to focus on training and the fight because I was away from my family, which was difficult, but I wanted to push myself as hard as I could.
Since competing for Black Combat, I’ve gained a lot of followers in Korea. When I walk around Shin-Okubo (Korea-town in Tokyo), the staff at the stores call out to me. People also recognized me when I traveled to Korea. I’ve heard that Black Combat is opening a 44kg weight class, and since it’s my weight class, I’d like to fight there in the future.
CJ: So what do you do about your children when you go abroad?
Oshima: Normally, my husband looks after them. Actually, I had a fight scheduled in April, but he couldn’t watch them then, so we had to look for other options. We decided to send them to his parents in Tokushima, but then my fight got canceled. I had already gotten the plane tickets for the kids and since they can fly by themselves now, we decided to send them anyway. We thought it’d be a good learning experience for them.
CJ: Speaking of your husband, after your first fight with Suda you told the crowd that because of his Judo situation, you might not be able to compete much longer. What happened with that?
Oshima: It was very difficult. At that time, they didn’t say that he could become a coach, so if he stopped competing, we thought he would have had to become a regular employee which would have meant him being transferred around Japan. We would no longer have been able to live in Tokyo. If he got sent to the countryside, it would have made it very difficult to continue with MMA.
In the end, they gave him a chance to coach, so I’m able to keep going with MMA. However, the coaching is based in Tokyo and Miyazaki, so while we are in Tokyo now, there is a possibility that he might have to go to Miyazaki. If, at that time, I’m no longer fully committed to MMA, I’ll go with him, but if I’m still committed to it, we’ll have to live apart for a while. I don’t want to quit halfway. There are still fights I want.
Training at Me, We
CJ: You’re now training at Me, We. Can you talk about your new training environment?
Oshima: It’s close to my house and easy to get to, and there are practices both day and night, so the advantage is that I can train when I want. I often have the opportunity to talk with Yamazaki, and he gives me a lot of advice. He often speaks to other fighters during practice, too. Seeing that makes me really want to repay Yamazaki for all he’s done. I left AACC last August and initially thought I’d go freelance, but then issues came up, like finding cornermen, so I decided to join Me, We.
CJ: What about your new teammates / sparring partners?
Oshima: The atmosphere is completely different from AACC. At AACC, we trained seriously, but sometimes we joked around. At Me, We, there is no joking around. I’ve been getting beaten up. There is a lot of tension in the gym, the atmosphere at practice is similar to that of a fight, which I think makes it easier to prepare.
We do a lot of technique work in the morning and spar at night, and since I lack a lot of technique, when I first came to Me, We, I was shocked by how little I knew, it was like I knew nothing. They probably didn’t think much of me, but I learn something new everyday. I realize there’s still a lot I can’t do, but I discover something new every time.
CJ: Speaking of training, you were coming off some injuries last year. How does that impact your training?
Oshima: I’ve been getting better recently. When I got injured last November, it made it difficult for me to even get up and move around. So now I practice carefully to avoid injuries. I’m especially careful before matches because that’s when I want to push myself hard, but maybe my body is more fragile than before, so I feel like I get injured more easily. If I overdo it in practice, I can lose focus and get hurt, so I have to remain balanced. If I feel even the slightest bit of discomfort, I skip practice and adjust my routine. I get scared if I feel even the slightest bit of pain, so I go to a chiro or something. I try to deal with it as early as possible. Compared to when I was younger and involved in Judo, injuries don’t heal as easily unless I rest.
As I’m getting older, I’m trying to prepare and train properly. The difficult part is having to do it all myself. Last November was really tough. Until then, I had never missed an announced fight. Actually, I had asked them not to announce it because of an injury, but there was a miscommunication and it got announced. I actually had a knee injury when I fought for Invicta, but I was told that knee taping wasn’t allowed in the U.S., so I tried to get by on painkillers. Because of that I was actually afraid to go for the takedown. It doesn’t change the fact that I lost because of a gap in skill, but I wasn’t in top form either, so I feel like I have to wait until I’m back to 100% before my next fight with them.
Thoughts on Izawa and the Future
CJ: What are your thoughts on Izawa? It seems like she keep’s saying she can’t find an opponent.
Oshima: Honestly, I think that she looks at and chooses opponents who are beneath her. She often says that there aren’t any opponents for her, but there are good fighters in Japan, she just doesn’t notice them because they’re focused on fighting overseas. So what she does is look at those opponents beneath her, kind of like anyone is ok, and “gives” them the fight (like she’s giving them a gift), but when she’s choosing her opponents, its from that weaker pool. If she’s going to act like she’s “giving” me a fight, I’d rather find my own opponent and fight them.
You have to have an opponent to fight, but when you say you’re “giving” them a fight, it’s kind of insulting, like you don’t respect your opponents, and that’s really annoyed me. Even though she’s tried to provoke me quite a bit, I haven’t reacted. Mainly because after Kanna Asakura’s retirement fight, I thought that Izawa would want to fight Rena, so that’s why I went to Invicta. I didn’t think I could fight Izawa soon, and when Rena got injured, I thought that a potential fight with Izawa would be even farther away.
CJ: If you two did fight, how do you think it would play out?
Oshima: It would be a match where mistakes can’t be made. I think about that a lot. Even during other fights, if I make a mistake, I think about how I can’t allow that if I want to fight her.
I expect the fight would develop into a grappling affair. We’d exchange strikes, but ultimately, I think we’d be working on the ground. However, I don’t feel there’s that big of a difference in our striking. That being said, I believe it would be a battle where both of us aim for a finish via grappling. Neither of us wants a decision.
CJ: Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to me after your training. Is there anything you want to say to the readers?
Oshima: I don’t think I’m going to fight for a long time. I have a clear goal now and I want to accomplish that. I didn’t think I would fight as much as I already have. In the beginning, it was fun because it was easy to see and feel myself improving. But it it doesn’t stay like that at the high levels. Until recently, MMA wasn’t the top priority in my life, but now, the higher I climb, the more I feel I have to commit and deliver results. My sense of what’s normal and my priorities have shifted. My approach to MMA has also changed.
I don’t have a set timeframe for how long I want to keep doing this, but right now I have a clear goal, so I want to see it through to the end. I know things might change depending on the outcome, but I want to try to get that far. Then, at that point, I’ll think about it again. I can’t push myself without a goal. I don’t know if I’ll be able to set a new goal once I reach that point. I don’t want to just drift along taking matches without a goal. I also want to spend time with my kids, so I can’t just keep doing only what I want forever. Still, I have things I want to do, so I want to see it through to that point.
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