On October 17, the re-branded Nøri Pravjra will face the veteran Takayo Hashi in a flyweight interim title match at Pancrase 324.
With a record of 4-4, the 22 year old Nøri is coming off of a victory over Pancrase staple, Rika Emiko. In the fight, she was able to effectively use kicks to keep her opponent, a former boxing champion, from getting into punching range. This kicking oriented style is pretty common among her teammates. As a professional, she has been competing in Shoot Boxing, kickboxing, and MMA since 2014, fighting champions like Ai Takahashi, Emi Fujino, and Mizuki Inoue along the way. Late in 2019, she made her Pancrase debut, after more than 2 years outside of the ring. Nøri and her teammates Karen and Darani recently left Team Date and formed Team Pravjra, with all three now fighting in Pancrase.
At 17-8-1 and at 43 years old, Takayo Hashi will have a clear advantage in experience going into this title match. Having made her pro-debut in 2004, when Nøri was 5, Takayo has fought famed fighters like Hitomi Akano, Sarah Kaufman, Cat Zingano, Roxanne Modafferi, and Shizuka Sugiyama. Like Nøri, there have been some gaps in her career, notably in 2013, 2016 and 2017. In 2018 she made her Pancrase debut and has been fighting fairly regularly for the promotion. Interestingly, her most recent fight is also a win over Raika Emiko.
On a final note, it is worth mentioning the impact of COVID-19. Not only has the pandemic prevented promotions like Pancrase from bringing in foreign talent, something that promotions relied on heavily with the women’s divisions, their main venue in Tokyo is now closing. Up till 2022, the Studio Coast will have served as the main venue for Pancrase. An interesting location, the venue also served as a live-house, so there was a disco ball above the cage, VIP rooms, and a club like atmosphere. It was one of the more unique venues in Tokyo and definitely created a fun experience for the spectators. Since it was located outside of central Tokyo, there was more space outside the venue, which allowed for promotion and fighters to do unique things like having a fighter’s food truck present at events. It will be interesting to see if Pancrase follows the same model and establishes a relationship with a particular venue or if they hop around like some of the other promotions.
Pancrase 324 will take place on October 17th at the Studio Coast in Tokyo, Japan.
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