On Thursday, Rizin held a press conference to announce the participants in this year’s Super Atomweight GP. Kanna Asakura, Seika Izawa, Ayaka Hamasaki, and Rena were all in attendance. As part of the press conference, they answered questions from the media and participated in the Tanabata custom of writing a wish on a piece of paper and hanging it from bamboo. Sakakibara also made several announcements. First, the winner of the tournament will win a 7 million yen ($52,000) prize, with the runner-up getting 3 million ($22,000). Second, they also announced the opening bouts. Ayaka Hamasaki will face Jessica Aguilar, Seika Izawa will face Laura Fontoura, Kanna Asakura will face Si Woo Park, and Rena will face Anastasiya Svetkivska. It is also worth noting that this tournament will differ from the one in 2017, in that it is scheduled to take place across three events instead of two, meaning that the finalists will only fight once on New Year’s Eve.
Ayaka Hamasaki
At 40 years old, many wondered what Ayaka was going to do next. She’s coming off the first two two-fight skid of her career. In addition, she’s already faced practically every worthy opponent in Japan. Well, now that the borders are back open, Rizin has brought in an opponent with historical significance. Jessica Aguilar not only fought Ayaka’s mentor Megumi Fujii twice, she was also scheduled to face Ayaka nearly 10 years ago. Unfortunately, that event was canceled due to the massive Tohoku earthquake. It is also worth noting that Jessica participated in Bellator’s Strawweight Tournament back in 2010. This tournament was one of the highest-profile women’s MMA events up to that time, taking place before women were fighting in the UFC and before Invicta FC had been founded. Now, 11 years later, Aguilar is once again fighting in a high-profile women’s tournament against a former rival’s student.
Comment: Hello, I’m Ayaka Hamasaki. I was supposed to fight Jessica 11 years ago when the earthquake happened. I remember that match being canceled the day of, so I think it is fate that we are fighting now, 11 years later. I will do my best to win the tournament! Thank you for your support.
Rena
In somewhat of a surprise, Rena is returning to 49kg for the first time since 2018. She has not fought at this weight since she was hospitalized during her weight cut for Rizin 14. However, before this incident, she did make 49kg 7 times without incident. Her addition is sure to increase viewership and the amount of attention that this tournament receives. Historically, she has been one of the most popular fighters in the promotion and has generated some of their highest Fujii TV ratings. For example, at Rizin’s 2017 NYE show, Rena outscored Kyoji Horiguchi and Tenshin Nasukawa with a rating of 10.3%. To put this in context, the event averaged 6.4%.
Comment: Thank you all for taking time out of your busy schedules to meet with us. I am Shootboxing and Rizin’s Rena. At first, I received an offer to compete in an 8 women tournament where all the fighters were going to be Japanese. A lot of the fighters would be from AACC so I wasn’t interested in participating, but then I received an offer to compete in a tournament where it was going to be 4 Japanese fighters facing 4 foreign fighters, so I decided to participate. I did this because I’m looking to fight for Bellator again so I want to fight foreign fighters and I also want to fight the current champion, Seika Izawa. I’d like to say that my ultimate goal is to win the tournament, but my goal is to beat Izawa. I will do my best, thank you for your support!
Kanna Asakura
At just 24 years old, it is hard to believe that Kanna made her Rizin debut 5 1/2 years ago when she 19. At the time she had only been fighting professionally for two years and had amassed a record of 5-1. A year after making her debut, she defeated Rena on New Year’s Eve to win the inaugural Super Atomweight Tournament. This fight received the highest viewership of the night and launched Kanna into a star. Since then, she has become a popular Youtuber and one of the more popular fighters in Rizin. Now she is scheduled to face the South Korean striker, Si Woo Park. The two have trained together in the past, so neither should be too surprised on fight day. Si Woo Park is a physical, hard-hitting kickboxer, who has greatly improved her takedown defense training with Miyuu Yamamoto and Itsuki Hirata at Krazy Bee. Wrestlers like Seika Izawa and Hikaru Aono struggled to get Park down in the past, so it will be interesting to see what Kanna’s game-plan is going into this fight.
Comment: Hello, I’m Kanna Asakura! This is my second time taking part in a tournament since I competed in the last won, but recently I don’t think I’ve stood out much in the division so I decided to enter this tournament. My opponent in the first round, Si Woo Park, is strong and scary but I will do my best to win the tournament a second time. Thank you for your support.
Seika Izawa
The current Super Atomweight champion burst onto the scene in 2020 and immediately raised eyebrows when she defeated Miki Motono in her second fight. Now she’s 6-0, holds two belts, and has two wins over Hamasaki and Motono, as well as a single win over Park. With her Judo and wrestling background, Izawa looks to be one of the best grapplers in the division and appears to be making giant strides between fights. She publicly called for this tournament after winning the title and Rizin has already started promoting her. A tournament win, could potentially make her a star in Rizn and the new face of the division. With Hamasaki, Rena, and Asakura all potentially nearing the end of their careers, Rizin is setting the stage for fighters like Izawa and Oshima to take the reigns. It is also worth noting that Izawa recently announced her engagement to fellow fighter Coro, so 2022 could be a big year for her in more ways than one.
Comment: First of all, thank you for putting on such an exciting tournament! I want to make women’s MMA even more exciting, so I’m definitely going to win!
The Tanabata Wishes
- Ayaka Hamasaki: “Winner!!”
- Rena: “I will never lose.” A reference to her entrance song.
- Kanna Asakura: “I’d also like to get an engagement ring.” A reference to Seika Izawa’s recent engagement to Coro
- Seika Izawa: “To be a woman blessed with both looks and brains.” She also added that she wants to become a strong and cool woman.
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