ONE: Sawada and Nikolakakos fight for the vacant atomweight title in Yokohama
On December 2, the Japanese fighter could become her country's first woman to hold a ONE world title. Muay Thai champion Rodrigues makes her MMA debut.
Symbolic image · Photo: Aotomo39 / Wikimedia Commons, CC0 (cropped and resized)
ONE Championship has booked a title fight for ONE SAMURAI 6 on December 2 at Yokohama Buntai: Japan's Chihiro Sawada and unbeaten Canadian Anastasia Nikolakakos will fight over five rounds for the vacant ONE women's atomweight MMA world title. Denice Zamboanga vacated the belt in June. Sawada, 28, could become the first Japanese woman to hold a ONE world title.
Former Shooto champion Sawada is 12-1 and has a wrestling background. In ONE she has beaten, among others, Itsuki Hirata by decision and Ayaka Miura by armbar at ONE SAMURAI 1. Nikolakakos, 36, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, is unbeaten at 7-0 and earned the title shot with a split-decision win over Jihin Radzuan in July.
In addition, Brazil's Allycia Hellen Rodrigues, the reigning atomweight Muay Thai champion, makes her MMA debut on November 20 at The Inner Circle 39 at Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok. Her opponent is France's Charlotte Padie, a French national kickboxing champion.