Miriam Herbie Nakamoto (born August 5, 1976) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

professional female

Muay Thai Muay Thai ( th, มวยไทย, , ), sometimes referred to as Thai boxing, is a combat sport that uses stand-up striking along with various clinching techniques. This discipline is known as the "art of eight limbs", as it is characterised ...

fighter and mixed martial artist fighting at Bantamweight (135 pounds).

Early life

Nakamoto was born in the U.S. state of Hawaii and began training in

at 23 years old. She later moved to California to live with her father and a stepmother. Nakamoto's great grandmother arrived in Hawaii as a

picture bride The term picture bride refers to the practice in the early 20th century of immigrant workers (chiefly Japanese, Okinawan, and Korean) in Hawaii and the West Coast of the United States and Canada, as well as Brazil selecting brides from their nat ...

Muay Thai career

Nakamoto began fighting

professionally in 2005. She is an eight-time world champion in the sport. Having produced a perfect 16–0 record to date.

Mixed martial arts career

Red Canvas

In 2012, Nakamoto made the transition to MMA. On September 15, 2012, Nakamoto made her MMA debut at ''Red Canvas Fight Promotions- Art of Submission 2''. Nakamoto finished her opponent, Elizabeth Phillips, with knees in the 2nd round.

Invicta Fighting Championships

Nakamoto made her Invicta FC debut on April 5, 2013, at '' Invicta FC 5: Penne vs. Waterson''. Nakamoto knocked out future

The Ultimate Fighter 18 ''The Ultimate Fighter: Team Rousey vs. Team Tate'' (also known as ''The Ultimate Fighter 18'') is the eighteenth U.S.-based installment of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)-produced reality television series ''The Ultimate Fighter''. Th ...

contestant Jessamyn “The Gun” Duke in the first round. Nakamoto was awarded the ''IFC: Knock out of the Night''. Even though the result was originally a KO victory for Nakamoto, over a month later, it was overturned by the Missouri Office of Athletics to no contest due to an illegal knee. Nakamoto returned to Invicta FC for their next event, '' Invicta FC 6: Coenen vs. Cyborg''. Miriam faced professional boxer

Duda Yankovich Duda Yankovich ( sr, Душица Јанковић, Dušica Janković, born September 27, 1976) is a Serbian-born former boxer and mixed martial arts fighter. She has been living in Brazil since 1999. Yankovich was the Women's International Bo ...

. Nakamoto won by first round technical-knockout due to knee and punches. Again, Nakamoto was awarded the ''IFC: Knock out of the Night''. Nakamoto faced undefeated Lauren Murphy for the inaugural Invicta FC bantamweight championship belt at '' Invicta FC 7: Honchak vs. Smith'' on December 7, 2013. Nakamoto lost the fight in the fourth round when she injured her knee. On July 28, 2019, Nakamoto announced that Joe Rogan has paid for her to have stem-cell therapy to treat her

meniscus Meniscus may refer to: *Meniscus (anatomy), crescent-shaped fibrocartilaginous structure that partly divides a joint cavity *Meniscus (liquid) The meniscus (plural: ''menisci'', from the Greek for "crescent") is the curve in the upper surface ...

which has a grade 3 lesion and prevented her from fighting since 2013.

Television and film

In 2005, Nakamoto was the Female Lead in the music video ''Tired of Being Sorry'' directed by Joaquin Phoenix and performed by indie rock band Ringside. In 2007, Miriam was on the hit reality TV show, Fight Girls, which aired on the

Oxygen Channel Oxygen (branded on air as Oxygen True Crime) is an American television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming unit of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast, through its Cable Entertainment Group subsidiary. The channel primar ...

. In episode 5, Nakamoto defeated housemate Jennifer Tate by split decision after three exhibition rounds.

Championships and accomplishments

Mixed martial arts

* Invicta Fighting Championships **''Knockout of the Night'' (Two times)

Muay Thai

*World Championship Kickboxing **2012 WCK Champion of Champions Super Lightweight Champion *

World Boxing Council Muaythai In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

**2010 WBC Muaythai World Lightweight Champion (Two title defenses) *

World Muaythai Council The World Muaythai Council (WMC) is one of the oldest and the largest professional sanctioning organizations of Muaythai in the world for the sport. The organization was set up in 1995 by parliament resolution, and is incorporated by the Royal T ...

**2010 WMC World Lightweight Champion *Thai Boxing Association **2010 TBA World Lightweight Champion *World Professional Muaythai Federation **2007 WPMF Light Welterweight Champion *International Federation of Muaythai Amateur **2009 IFMA Muaythai World Championships Gold Medalist Light Welterweight **2009 IFMA Muaythai World Championships Best Female Boxer

Amateur boxing

*San Francisco Golden Gloves **2004 Champion

Kickboxing record (incomplete)

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Temecula, California, USA Temecula (; es, Temécula, ; Luiseño: ''Temeekunga'') is a city in southwestern Riverside County, California, United States. The city had a population of 110,003 as of the 2020 census and was incorporated on December 1, 1989. The city is a t ...

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Julie Kitchen Julie Kitchen (born 19 April 1977) is an English sports commentator and retired kickboxer, Muay Thai fighter. Early life Julie Kitchen was born at Truro Hospital to parents Ivor and Lynn Barrett, as the middle child of three daughters. Betwee ...

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Pala, California, USA Pala is a small, mostly Native American, community and CDP located in the Pala Indian Reservation, located within San Diego County, California. For centuries a traditional gathering place of native peoples, it was selected in the early 19th ce ...

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Chantal Ughi Chantal Ughi (born 17 December 1981) is an Italian American female kickboxer, actress and multiple Muay Thai champion. Ughi started training Muay Thai in New York aged 20, and in January 2008 left her acting career in the United States to beco ...

, , WCK Muay Thai , ,

Haikou, China Haikou (; ), also spelled as Hoikow is the capital and most populous city of the Chinese province of Hainan. Haikou city is situated on the northern coast of Hainan, by the mouth of the Nandu River. The northern part of the city is on the Ha ...

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China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

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Angela Rivera-Parr John Wayne "The Gunslinger" Parr (born 25 May 1976), also known as JWP, is a retired Australian Muay Thai fighter, kickboxer and boxer, fighting out of Boonchu Gym in Gold Coast, Queensland. He is a former 10-time World Champion and was the run ...

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Mixed martial arts record

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Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central ...

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, United States , , - , Win , style="text-align:center;", 1–0 , Elizabeth Phillips , TKO (knees) , Red Canvas - Art of Submission 2 , , style="text-align:center;", 2 , style="text-align:center;", 3:39 , San Jose, California, United States , , -

Professional boxing record

References

External links

Miriam Nakamoto
a
Awakening Fighters
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nakamoto, Miriam 1976 births Living people American female mixed martial artists American Muay Thai practitioners Female Muay Thai practitioners American female kickboxers American practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu Female Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioners Bantamweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing Muay Thai Mixed martial artists utilizing boxing Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu American sportspeople of Japanese descent American women boxers People from Dublin, California 21st-century American women Kickboxers from Hawaii Mixed martial artists from Hawaii