ONE Championship’s latest big-name Japanese signing Kana Morimoto believes the promotion has “higher level strikers” than K-1 – and admits “that’s why I came here”.
The 32-year-old, popularly known as “KANA”, is back in Bangkok at the Superbon Training Camp gym in Nonthaburi, where she will base herself until the end of the year.
A former flyweight K-1 kickboxing champion in her home country, she told the Bangkok Post she expects to make her ONE debut in December after signing with them last month – and she wants to earn a shot at Phetjeeja’s atomweight kickboxing belt in 2025.
“It depends on the matchmakers, but the reality is I will not get Phetjeeja on my debut,” KANA said backstage at Lumpinee Stadium, where she took in ONE Fight Night 25.
“So the best scenario is whoever ONE Championship puts in front of me, I have to finish the opponent, and within a year I want to fight Phetjeeja.
“I have always wished to become a champion so I want to fight someone in the rankings to prove I deserve that title shot. I want to fight someone who has experienced a title fight as well.”
KANA said she will make sure she is “ready at any time” should she get the call-up, but the expectation is she will land in a featured slot on ONE’s next quarterly Friday Fights “tentpole” card, which is scheduled for December.
Asked why she left K-1, KANA insisted the reason was “very simple”.
“The fighters I want to fight are all in ONE,” she said. “Since I was still fighting in K-1, I wanted to fight against Anissa Meksen or whoever is considered a stronger fighter, like Phetjeeja or Allycia Rodrigues.
“There is only one way to fight them, and that is by going to ONE. Honestly, my opinion is that ONE has a higher level of fighters in terms of striking, compared to K-1.
“The fact is, former K-1 fighters like Takeru and Masaaki Noiri unfortunately both lost their debuts in ONE – it shows how high the level in ONE is.
“I see that reality, and my goal is to adjust myself to this level and also showcase how strong I am.”
ONE is set to return to Japan in early 2025 with a marquee main event pitting Thai icon Rodtang Jitmuangnon against Takeru – himself a former three-division K-1 champion.
KANA would love to fight on the same card, and hopes to help grow ONE’s brand back home.
“Right now ONE is a big name outside of Japan, but doesn’t have events in Japan so often, so it’s kind of hard to be well known in Japan for now,” she said.
“I want to make ONE popular in Japan with my great performances outside Japan, to bring ONE back to Japan and then it will get more attention from fans there.”
It’s not just Japanese fans that KANA hopes to strike a cord with, however.
“I know that most of the fans in ONE don’t know me or have never seen me fight, so I want to show them a massive KO [on my debut],” she added.
“I want the fans to think, ‘I want to see KANA’s fight’, and to build my fan base overseas. I’m willing to fight outside of Japan, in Thailand.”
The 32-year-old, popularly known as “KANA”, is back in Bangkok at the Superbon Training Camp gym in Nonthaburi, where she will base herself until the end of the year.
A former flyweight K-1 kickboxing champion in her home country, she told the Bangkok Post she expects to make her ONE debut in December after signing with them last month – and she wants to earn a shot at Phetjeeja’s atomweight kickboxing belt in 2025.
“It depends on the matchmakers, but the reality is I will not get Phetjeeja on my debut,” KANA said backstage at Lumpinee Stadium, where she took in ONE Fight Night 25.
“So the best scenario is whoever ONE Championship puts in front of me, I have to finish the opponent, and within a year I want to fight Phetjeeja.
“I have always wished to become a champion so I want to fight someone in the rankings to prove I deserve that title shot. I want to fight someone who has experienced a title fight as well.”
KANA said she will make sure she is “ready at any time” should she get the call-up, but the expectation is she will land in a featured slot on ONE’s next quarterly Friday Fights “tentpole” card, which is scheduled for December.
Asked why she left K-1, KANA insisted the reason was “very simple”.
“The fighters I want to fight are all in ONE,” she said. “Since I was still fighting in K-1, I wanted to fight against Anissa Meksen or whoever is considered a stronger fighter, like Phetjeeja or Allycia Rodrigues.
“There is only one way to fight them, and that is by going to ONE. Honestly, my opinion is that ONE has a higher level of fighters in terms of striking, compared to K-1.
“The fact is, former K-1 fighters like Takeru and Masaaki Noiri unfortunately both lost their debuts in ONE – it shows how high the level in ONE is.
“I see that reality, and my goal is to adjust myself to this level and also showcase how strong I am.”
ONE is set to return to Japan in early 2025 with a marquee main event pitting Thai icon Rodtang Jitmuangnon against Takeru – himself a former three-division K-1 champion.
KANA would love to fight on the same card, and hopes to help grow ONE’s brand back home.
“Right now ONE is a big name outside of Japan, but doesn’t have events in Japan so often, so it’s kind of hard to be well known in Japan for now,” she said.
“I want to make ONE popular in Japan with my great performances outside Japan, to bring ONE back to Japan and then it will get more attention from fans there.”
It’s not just Japanese fans that KANA hopes to strike a cord with, however.
“I know that most of the fans in ONE don’t know me or have never seen me fight, so I want to show them a massive KO [on my debut],” she added.
“I want the fans to think, ‘I want to see KANA’s fight’, and to build my fan base overseas. I’m willing to fight outside of Japan, in Thailand.”
