Chihiro Sawada Is Now One Win From Becoming Japan’s First Female ONE MMA World Champion
No Japanese woman has ever claimed a ONE World Title. On Wednesday, December 2, Chihiro Sawada gets her chance to change that in front of a home crowd.
The former Shooto Atomweight Champion faces undefeated Canadian Anastasia “Anniemale” Nikolakakos for the vacant ONE Women’s Atomweight MMA World Championship at ONE SAMURAI 6, inside Yokohama Buntai in Yokohama, Japan. It is the first bout confirmed for the blockbuster card.
The 28-year-old Tokyo martial artist opened her ONE tenure with three straight wins over Sanaz Fayazmanesh, Jihin “Shadow Cat” Radzuan, and Noelle Grandjean. Her first career setback arrived in January 2025, but it proved only a temporary detour.
Six months later, she submitted Macarena Aragon with a first-round armbar at ONE Fight Night 33, then earned a dominant unanimous decision over Itsuki “Android 18” Hirata. This year, she handed Natalie Salcedo the first loss of her career before submitting Ayaka “Zombie” Miura with another round-one armbar at ONE SAMURAI 1.
That four-fight run lifted the IDEA Asakusa and Team Akatsuki representative to 12-1 and earned her this opportunity. Her wrestling pedigree ranks among the best in the division, and five of her career wins have come by submission.
Nikolakakos, however, has no intention of playing a supporting role in Sawada’s story. The 7-0 Toronto resident, a 36-year-old Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt, pairs elite ground control with vicious hands.
She stopped Victoria “Vick” Souza with ground strikes at 4:59 of the first round in her ONE debut. At ONE Fight Night 45 in July, she outlasted Jihin to earn a hard-fought split decision and left Bangkok convinced she was next in line.
Both women are at their most dangerous on the canvas, making the scramble for control the central story of this scheduled five-round fight. Sawada will look to keep it where her wrestling rules, while Nikolakakos will try to drag it into deeper waters.
A home crowd in Yokohama will be hoping to witness history. Whether Sawada delivers it or Nikolakakos spoils the moment, the atomweight MMA division will have a new queen before the night is over.
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