Issue 144
August 2016
Meet Ayaka Hamasaki – the most dangerous 105lb woman on the planet
It's been some time since Japan was an MMA super power. Of the UFC’s 160 ranked fighters, just two – Kyoji Horiguchi and Takaya Mizugaki – hail from The Land of the Rising Sun. But tune into Invicta Fighting Championships on UFC Fight Pass and you’ll find one of the country’s fighters at the top of her weight class – Ayaka Hamasaki.
The 34-year-old began life in combat sports as a judoka, but was introduced to MMA in 2008, when she became a student of women’s MMA all-time great Megumi Fuji at the Abe Ani Combat Club gym in Tokyo. As ‘Mega Megu’s number-one protégé, she sliced through the competition in the Jewels organization and captured its 115lb title.
The next step was to fulfill her ambition of fighting in America and she shone on Invicta’s second event by sealing a dominant performance against Lacey Schuckman with a late armbar. But her transition across the Pacific stuttered when she was knocked out by future UFC strawweight star, Claudia Gadelha.
Hamasaki rebounded from that loss by dropping a weight class and winning two fights, then picking up the MMA torch for her nation. She became the first Japanese fighter to claim championship hardware from a major North American promotion when she wrestled the Invicta strap from dangerous Brazilian Herica Tiburcio last July thanks to her relentless top-position game and determined resilience.
In March, she put on a slick submission clinic on Albuquerque’s Amber Brown for her first defense. Now regarded as one of the top pound-for-pound fighters on the female side of the sport, if someone needs to be taken out at 105lb, there’s only one woman to call.
Big deal
Pride of a nation
Though Hamasaki describes winning the Invicta title as a dream come true, her accomplishment didn’t sink in until she got home with the belt. “When I first got back to Japan I didn’t think about it a whole lot, but the people around me kept celebrating and I realized I had won the world title.”
She adds that she hopes to attract fans from around the world: “Of course I would like to keep defending this title. I like to be stronger and I would like to keep fighting for Invicta FC, so please everyone support me!”
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