Chihiro Sawada handed previously undefeated American standout Natalie Salcedo her first professional loss, controlling the action with relentless striking and superior grappling to claim a unanimous decision victory in their women's atomweight MMA battle at ONE Fight Night 39 on Friday, January 23, at Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.
The 28-year-old Tokyo native set the tone immediately, dominating the opening round with sharp left punches that backed the 33-year-old BJJ black belt into the corner. Sawada seamlessly transitioned to the clinch, where she landed several punishing knees.
Salcedo weathered another early storm in round two as Sawada continued her striking assault. The American's resilience showed as she hunted for submissions during the scrambles, but the former Shooto Champion maintained control throughout.
The left punch remained Sawada's primary weapon in round three, and she punctuated her performance by pinning Salcedo to the canvas for one final takedown as time expired.
Sawada's striking improvements came through dedicated training with Japanese MMA fighter Izawa Seika at JPP gym, adding a new dimension to her established wrestling base. The strategic decision to keep the fight standing proved crucial against Salcedo's dangerous ground game.
"Since my background is in wrestling, I'm very good at that, and normally, I would do the takedown, go for the scramble," Sawada said through an interpreter. "But if I took Natalie down, it would be the performance that Natalie is very good at on the ground. So this time I didn't want to do that, I wanted to control the whole game. So I made her come to me with her striking game."
Despite the dominant performance, Sawada rated her own effort modestly at six out of ten, indicating her high standards and belief that her striking still requires improvement. Breaking Salcedo's undefeated record held no special significance for the Japanese fighter, who views winning as simply fulfilling her responsibilities as a professional.
Sawada elevated her record to 11-1 and maintained her position among the division's elite. With six wins in seven ONE Championship appearances, she believes she has earned a shot at Denice Zamboanga's ONE Women's Atomweight MMA World Title.
The Japanese wrestler expressed interest in an interim title bout against Ayaka Miura while Zamboanga recovers from injury. Sawada sees the potential matchup between two Japanese fighters at a Tokyo event as a significant draw for domestic audiences.
"I will keep improving, keep getting better, be an athlete, be a fighter that deserves the title shot," Sawada said. "Keep on supporting me. Thank you very much."
