The ONE Women's Atomweight MMA World Title is vacant, and the matchup chosen to fill it pits a 12-1 Japanese wrestler against a 7-0 Canadian grappler. Chihiro Sawada and Anastasia Nikolakakos settle it at ONE SAMURAI 6 on Wednesday, December 2, at Yokohama Buntai in Yokohama, Japan.
The bout is the first confirmed for the card and is scheduled for five rounds. For Sawada, a victory would also make her the first Japanese woman to hold a ONE World Title.
The 28-year-old former Shooto Atomweight Champion began her ONE run with three consecutive victories over Sanaz Fayazmanesh, Jihin Radzuan, and Noelle Grandjean. She suffered the only loss of her career in January 2025.
Her response has been emphatic. Sawada has won four straight since, opening with a first-round armbar of Macarena Aragon at ONE Fight Night 33 and following with a dominant unanimous decision over Itsuki Hirata.
She then handed previously unbeaten Natalie Salcedo her first loss earlier this year and closed the run with a first-round armbar of Ayaka Miura at ONE SAMURAI 1. Five of her 12 career wins have come by submission.
The IDEA Asakusa and Team Akatsuki representative is built on wrestling, a pedigree regarded as one of the strongest in the division. That base allows her to dictate where exchanges take place.
Nikolakakos offers a different kind of grappling threat. The 36-year-old Toronto resident is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt whose game centers on takedowns, positional control, and heavy ground strikes.
Her promotional debut ended at 4:59 of the first round, when she took mount on Victoria Souza and landed two right hands for the finish. Her second appearance, at ONE Fight Night 45 in July, required her to grind past Jihin for a split decision.
That makes Jihin a common opponent. Sawada defeated the Malaysian during her opening run, while Nikolakakos needed a split verdict to get past her, which offers one point of comparison between the two.
The fight is likely to be decided by who controls the scrambles. Sawada will look to keep it in wrestling exchanges, while Nikolakakos will try to pull it toward positions where her jiu-jitsu carries more weight.
