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Ayaka Miura will hope to become the next ONE Championship strawweight champion when she faces Xiong Jing Nan this Friday, January 14 on the Heavy Hitters fight card.
The Japanese fighter sees herself prevailing by putting her opponent in her trademark 'Ayaka Lock'. Miura will be coming into this match carrying an 11-3 professional record. Seven of those victories have come via submissions.
The strawweight contender has four victories in ONE Championship, all of which saw her foes submitted with her infamous scarf hold armlock.
The 'Ayaka Lock' has been Miura's go-to move and six of her submission wins have come from her trademark hold. Discussing the technique in an interview with ONE Championship, Miura said:
"This is a technique that uses judo holds to control the opponent’s shoulders and bend their elbows in the opposite direction. Since the joint is fixed and bent in the opposite direction, you can’t escape from the pain, you have to tap."
The 31-year-old is confident she can add defending champion Xiong Jing Nan to her list of victims in their title match.
"I will go for it if she lets her guard down. There’s a lot that goes into getting to the 'Ayaka Lock'. I think this time, the match will be different from the past."
If Miura defeats Xiong, she will be ending dominance of 'The Panda' in the women's strawweight division.
XJN has an impressive 16-2 professional MMA record. Only Angela Lee has defeated her in ONE Championship, a loss that came when she attempted to win the atomweight title.
Ayaka Miura sees her grappling skills as her edge against Xiong Jing Nan
Heading into the title fight, Ayaka Miura has done her homework and she already sees her edge in grappling against Xiong Jing Nan. The Japanese strawweight respects XJN's wrestling skills but believes 'The Panda' has an inferior ground game.
Rating her opponent's ground game on a scale of 1-10, Ayaka Miura said:
"It’s like 6 or 7. The reason is that she is good defensively. In other words, she has good basic movements. She can do that in a fight. If she could land takedowns, I think she would be perfect."
We'll find out on January 14 whether Ayaka Miura's confidence on the ground will prove to make the difference.
