In September of 1993, some 50 days ahead of UFC 1, now-legendary fighters like Ken Shamrock, Funaki, Minoru Suzuki, and Bas Rutten were all part of history when they fought on Pancrase’s first show. This Sunday, 30 years later, Pancrase will celebrate their anniversary at the Tachikawa Stage Garden, with special bonuses available to the fighters and Minoru Suzuki in attendance. Among those fighting on the card will be the former Strawweight Queen of Pancrase Karen, who is looking to get back into the win column and resume her climb up the rankings with a win over Chiyo Takamoto. Ahead of the fight, we had a chance to sit down with the 20 year old former champion and discuss her new training environment, her upcoming fight, and her goals.
Changing her environment
As you may or may not be aware, while Karen has been involved in martial arts for most of her life, up until recently she was in a unique training environment, training primarily with her brother and sister, first as part of Team Date, then later as part of Team Pravajra. Together they trained in what they call Maharajan Kalaripayattu, a martial art they say originates from India. Inside the cage, this translated into what Pancrase commentator Guy Delumeau once called a Taekwondo-esque kicking-based style. In the beginning, this style and training environment served Karen well, as she went undefeated and ultimately beat the veteran Emi Fujino en route to winning the Strawweight title, making her then the youngest Queen of Pancrase in history. However, after picking up another win, Karen faced off against the taller striker Salt and came up short twice, losing her title in the process.
Ahead of her first fight with Salt, Rei Tsuraya reached out to Karen and invited her to come train at Paraestra, so she started going there once a week. Eventually, a month before her rematch with Salt, she left Team Pravajra and started training there full-time. By joining Paraestra, she joined a large team that can provide her with quality instruction and a good number of female sparring partners. She also told us that while Pravajra had been more striking focused, she’s been able to work a lot on her wrestling and grappling at Paraestra, something she felt she needed to work on. She’s also been able to work on mixing her striking with her grappling.
In fact, her training has changed so much, that she tells us her style has also changed pretty significantly and she’s looking forward to showcasing it this Sunday.
Getting back in the cage
When Karen steps into the cage this Sunday, she will do so with Chiyo Takamoto, a young 18 year old fighter who made her pro-debut back in April against Karen’s teammate, Honoka Shigeta. While it is true that Chiyo lost in her pro-debut, it is important to look at her amateur career, where she beat Saki, Anouk, and picked up three wins by armbar. She also fought Machi, who is set to make her Rizin debut next month. All that to say that while this is only her 2nd pro-fight, she does have some good experience coming into this fight.
No one is more aware of this then Karen, who’s actually seen her fight in person. When asked about her, she told us that Chiyo is aggressive and likes to come forward. She’s also added that she’s good off her back and has a number of armbar wins. However, Karen tells us she isn’t nervous. As far as Chiyo’s aggressiveness and forward pressure, she’s faced Fujino, a fighter known for her pressure and as far as the grappling, she’s been working on that at Paraestra. She also added that there has been sometime since her last fight and she really feels like she’s improved since then.
Getting to the UFC
As is the case with most fighters, Karen is focused on her upcoming bout, but she did answer some questions about her future plans. For example, after tomorrow’s bout, she’d like to make a quick turn-around and fight again on Pancrase’s December card in Yokohama. This is because she wants to quickly climb back up the rankings, so that she, like her now-teammate Rei Tsuraya, can get a chance to compete on the Road to UFC show and make her way to the UFC. Ideally, she tells us, this would happen within the next two years. When pressed, she made it clear that the UFC is her goal. In her opinion they’re the biggest MMA promotion on the planet and to be a champion there means you are truly the best.
With such a big goal, Karen will look to show off her new style and what’s she’s learned at Paraestra tomorrow when she steps into the cage to face Chiyo, telling the media at the weigh-ins that she’s going for the finish, be it by submission or TKO.
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