Photo credit to @OTHeroicsMMA on Twitter
Itsuki Hirata and Alyse Anderson talk ONE Atomweight Grand Prix bout
ONE: Empower goes down on Friday, September 3rd, and emanates from Singapore Indoor Stadium. The broadcast transpires on the ONE Super App and the ONE Championship Youtube channel depending on your local listing.
Itsuki Hirata and Alyse Anderson will test skills inside the ONE Circle in this Atomweight Grand Prix quarterfinals contest.
Itsuki Hirata and Alyse Anderson
Hirata sports a spotless 4-0 pro-MMA record and has a one hundred percent finishing rate so far. Many pundits and fans alike are looking at Hirata as the dark horse to go on to win the Grand Prix outright.
Anderson is a former TWC Atomweight champion and has a bit of an edge in terms of overall pro experience. She has back-to-back Invicta FC victories prior to this debut effort in ONE Championship against Hirata.
Excerpts from my interactions with both combatants at the recent media day are below.
Itsuki Hirata excerpt
ONE's very own "Android 18" is ready for BATTLE this Friday at ONE: EMPOWER! 🤩🔥 @_itsuki_h_ @dragonballz #ONEEmpower #WeAreONE #ONEChampionship pic.twitter.com/Pu5n64ipNM
— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) August 31, 2021
Invicta FC vet Alyse Anderson representing Itsuki Hirata’s stiffest test as a pro so far
“Well if you talk about experience, definitely Alyse (Anderson) has more experience than me. But this is just gonna be another bout where I experience a good fight. I’ll get stronger. So besides the experience, I’m not scared of anything. I’m ready to fight.”
Alyse Anderson excerpt
Alyse Anderson is looking to go HIGHER, FURTHER, FASTER in the ONE Women's Atomweight World Grand Prix! 🦸♀️
RETWEET to show your support for #TeamAnderson 🙌 #ONEEmpower #WeAreONE #ONEChampionship pic.twitter.com/fDw9RVWfr6— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) August 30, 2021
Training at MMA Masters and Anderson’s traveling situation to Singapore
“As far as training partners go, I’ve been working with my head coach. He’s a black belt in Judo which was perfect for this matchup because of Itsuki’s style. So he got some shorter opponents for me to work my reach with. Just to be prepared for her game. The flight was really long from Singapore but luckily I adjusted pretty quickly. Because we got in super late. So I actually got on Singapore time very quickly which was nice.”
I’ve been enamored with combat sports for as long as I can remember. I’ve hosted MMA talk shows Lights Out and Pure Fight Radio with featured guests like Jens Pulver, Roy Nelson, Miesha Tate, Mark Coleman, and more. I’ve been an MMA broadcaster for XFFC as well as BTC and have done play by play commentary on live pay per view on GFL as well as FITE TV. I’ve provided written, audio, and video content covering some of the biggest MMA promotions like Rumble in the Cage, Unified MMA, and King of the Cage. I’ve worked as a sports entertainment personality for over five years and given play-by-play or featured promotions of KSW, ONE Championship, TKO, and Invicta FC. My work can be found in the USA Today Sports affiliate MMA Torch, Cageside Press, MMA Sucka, and Liberty Multimedia.