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Victoria Souza entered her ONE 167 scrap with Itsuki Hirata with a very specific game plan.
After dropping two of her last three appearances with the promotion, 'Vick' was in desperate need of a big win inside the sold-out Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand. 91 seconds into their clash, Souza got exactly what she was looking for. Catching 'Android 18' in a guillotine, Souza put Hirata to sleep, forcing referee Herb Dean to step in and stop the bout.
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Speaking with Sportskeeda MMA following her big win, Victoria Souza revealed that she had studied all of Hirata's fights and geared her game plan specifically toward fending off and countering the Japanese star's takedown attempts.
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"Before this fight with Hirata, I watched all of her fights, every time, and in the camp, we trained for her takedowns and created an exclusive game plan just for her," Souza said.
As they say, practice makes perfect, and 'Vick' looked pretty damn perfect at ONE 167.
Denice Zamboanga was stunned by Victoria Souza's finish of Itsuki Hirata
As for Itsuki Hirata, the once highly touted atomweight prospect fell to 5-4 under the ONE Championship banner. Between 2019 and 2021, 'Android 18' won four in a row, including three finishes. Since then, he's dropped four of her last five, including three straight defeats at the hands of Ham Seo Hee, Ayaka Miura, and Victoria Souza.
Even No. 2 ranked atomweight contender Denice Zamboanga was left stunned by the turn of events, telling Sportskeeda:
"I didn't expect that because I know Itsuki, she trains very hard just to get her winning streak back, you know. But, yeah, as I said, anything can happen in a fight."
Zamboanga also competed at ONE 167, earning an impressive unanimous decision victory over Noelle Grandjean. 'The Menace' has won her last three fights and remains in pole position for a shot at the atomweight division's top prize.
If you missed any of the action, ONE Championship fans in the United States and Canada can watch the ONE 167 replay on demand via Amazon Prime Video.
