Itsuki Hirata is definitely "willing to try" a submission grappling match in ONE Championship

Itsuki Hirata is lauded as one of the top grapplers in ONE Championship, so it’s no wonder that the Japanese judoka is being tabbed as a potential contender in the promotion’s submission grappling boom.

'Android 18' is just three years into her professional mixed martial arts career, yet she has already captured the imagination of the MMA community due to her mesmerizing and unrelenting offense.

Hirata blasted through the competition in her first four fights in ONE Championship. She scored three finishes in the process, two of which were submission victories.

In an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda, Hirata said she’d love to compete in submission grappling and further test her Brazilian jiu-jitsu skills:

“Yeah, if there’s a chance, I would love the opportunity to fight in a submission grappling match in ONE Championship. There are a lot of great names out there and some really talented fighters, but I don’t have any specific opponent in mind. But I am definitely willing to try!”

Hirata was already an intimidating presence when she arrived in ONE Championship in June 2019. Her debut match lasted barely three minutes as she submitted Angelie Sabanal just 2:59 into the first round.

Her second fight in the promotion made it into the late stages of the second round, but the result stayed the same. Hirata submitted Rika Ishige via an armbar 4:41 into the second round of their October 2019 bout in Tokyo.

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Itsuki Hirata is anime personified

It’s no secret that Itsuki Hirata loves her anime and that even her nickname took inspiration from the art form.

Hirata is ONE Championship’s ‘Android 18’ because of her likeness to the character from the Dragon Ball franchise. The promising atomweight even took time to critique MMA moves from acclaimed anime Attack on Titan and Baki the Grappler.

In a video posted to ONE Championship’s YouTube channel, Hirata gushed over how the two anime series perfectly displayed grappling and submission techniques:

“These fight scenes look more realistic than I expected. Wow, look at this arm-triangle choke and armbar. He dodges the cross and then… cross counter, outside leg sweep, and then arm-triangle choke. This grappling is great. This is what I did when I fought Rika Ishige. I always thought it was just about the Titans eating one another, I didn’t know it included so many great mixed martial arts techniques.”

Watch the video below: