“I just wanted to challenge myself” - Itsuki Hirata breaks down her win over Lin Heqin

Fast-rising Japanese star Itsuki Hirata got back into the win column at ONE on Prime Video 1 on Friday. ‘Android 18’ defeated tough Chinese striker Lin Heqin in a highly competitive bout via unanimous decision. The win moved Hirata to 5-1 inside the circle and one step closer to world title contention.

While it wasn’t a flawless victory for Hirata, the recently turned 23-year-old fighter nearly finished Heqin late in the third round after landing a big right, dropping her opponent. With 20 seconds to go, Hirata unloaded on Heqin with ground-and-pound, but there wasn’t enough time on the clock to secure a finish.

Following her win over ‘MMA Sister', Hirata spoke to ONE Championship about the near finish of Heqin in her return to the circle.

“Yeah, for the second round and the third round, I think if I had 10 more seconds, I could have finished the opponent. But it is what it is. And 90% of my preparation for this fight was striking. So I wanted to do more MMA training and grappling training after this trip.”

Despite the solid performance, Itsuki Hirata admitted that she may have tried too many things. The Krazy Bee representative was determined to showcase her improvements after spending an extensive amount of time on improving her striking ahead of the matchup.

“I was not really confident, but I wanted to try so many things, you know. This whole training camp and this fight itself were challenging for me. There was no pressure; I just wanted to try new things. I just wanted to challenge myself. Yeah, that's why I brought it today.”

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Itsuki Hirata feels she didn’t prepare enough despite walking away with the win

Itsuki Hirata is her own worst critic. The young up-and-comer was especially hard on herself following her ONE X loss to Jihin Radzuan in March. Looking to improve her skills all around, ‘Android 18’ ventured to the United States to train with some of the country’s top gyms.

Heading back to Singapore for her ONE Championship return, Itsuki Hirata scored the win but still believes that she didn’t prepare enough.

When asked about Heqin’s takedown defense, Hirata was quick to dismiss the notion that Heqin’s defense was better than expected. Instead, she placed the blame on herself.

“I don't want to think that Lin has a good takedown defense. So I just wanted to think that I didn't prepare enough for her takedown skills. And I wanted to attack more, but I tried to mix my judo skill as well, so that's what I did today.”