It is hard to believe that Saya Ito is only 22 years old. As an amateur she went 78-12-3 and as a professional, she has now amassed a record of 23-4-2. Raw numbers aside, she has won numerous championships and had high profile fights with Tenshin Nasukawa (twice) and Little Tiger (twice). Having fought since she was a child, it makes sense that she took some time off, fighting only once in 2018 and once in 2019. (The cover photo is courtesy of LadyGo!) She has now returned to regular competition.
In 2020, she answered the call of Erika Kamimura, who was asking for strikers from numerous disciplines to come to RISE. At the time, she had mentioned that she would like to branch out and challenge herself by taking some kickboxing matches and eventually fight Hinata Terayama. However, these plans were dashed when Saya was defeated by Ayaka. She seemed generally uncomfortable with the limitations, pacing, and duration of kickboxing and lost by KO for the first time in her career. This defeat led to a rematch roughly a year later. The rematch was contested under Muay Thai rules and as part of the buildup, it was announced that Ayaka would receive a 1 million yen bonus if she defeated Saya again. Unfortunately for Ayaka, Saya won the rematch.
Earlier this month, Saya continued her winning ways and defeated Mirey at BOM Wave 05. While winning may not necessarily be new to Saya, this fight was unique for three reasons. First, the fight took place at 48kg (105lbs), which is 3kg (6.6lbs) above her natural weight. Second, the fight took place for an event that was sponsored by One Championship, a promotion which has been developing their kickboxing and Muay Thai divisions. Third and last, both fighters used open-finger-gloves instead of boxing gloves. After the match, we had a chance to speak to Saya and talk about her future and goals. The conversation is below.
CJ: Long time no talk! Thanks for taking the time to speak with us. Can we start with your last match? What was it like fighting in open-finger-gloves for the first time? How did that come about?
Saya: I wore open-finger-gloves because the match was sponsored by One Championship. I thought it was pretty fun to fight in them, you can punch through your opponent’s guard and the impacts are smaller but more intense/painful.
CJ: That’s interesting, would you want to do it again?
Saya: Yes, I want to do it again!
CJ: Speaking of what you’d like to do, I saw in an older article that you wanted to fight Hinata Terayama. Is that still something you want to do?
Saya: Right now it isn’t something I think I really want to do. Even though Corona makes it difficult to do now, I want to face the strongest Muay Thai fighters under Muay Thai rules.
CJ: So is it safe to say your goal now is to fight for One?
Saya: Yes, my goal is One! They have a lot of strong fighters and if I am going to fight abroad, I want to see what its like to fight against Thai Fight or Muay Thai Super Champs.
CJ: Is there anyone in particular you want to fight?
Saya: No one in particular, I just want to challenge myself.
CJ: With regards to One, I guess my main question would be about your weight. The smallest division they have is 52.2kg (115lbs). Are you worried that you’ll be undersized?
Saya: That’s right. The heaviest I’ve ever fought is 48kg (105lbs). It won’t be easy for me to fight above 50kg (110lbs).
CJ: Are you going to gradually build up to 52kg then try to join One or do you want to join then build up to 52kg?
Saya: In Japan, there are a lot of fighters around 48kg and 49kg, so I think I will stick around that weight, but I don’t know the details yet. When I get an offer to fight, I will fight at the contracted weight. My goal is to fight for One but I still have a lot of work to do regarding my weight and abilities.
CJ: On a completely unrelated note, it looks like you dressed up in a yukata and went out today. Is that what you like to do when you aren’t training?
Saya: I went to Asakusa. I hadn’t been there in years so I wanted to go! I don’t really have any hobbies but I do love getting out and about.
CJ: That sounds fun. Well, thank you for taking the time to speak with us. We look forward to seeing what you do next. Is there anything you would like to say to the readers?
Saya: Thank you for all your support. I am going to keep working hard so I can fight to the best of my abilities.
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