Kanna Asakura ( ja, 浅倉栞南); born October 12, 1997 in

Chiba Chiba may refer to: Places China * (), town in Jianli County, Jingzhou, Hubei Japan * Chiba (city), capital of Chiba Prefecture ** Chiba Station, a train station * Chiba Prefecture, a sub-national jurisdiction in the Greater Tokyo Area on ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

is a female Japanese

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorp ...

. She competes in the Atomweight (106 lb) division and is currently signed with the

Rizin Fighting Federation Rizin Fighting Federation (Rizin FF or Rizin) is a Japanese mixed martial arts organization created in 2015 by the former Pride Fighting Championships and Dream Stage Entertainment president Nobuyuki Sakakibara. Rizin was founded to be the spir ...

. She is the #6 ranked Atomweight in the world according to

Sherdog Sherdog is an American website devoted to the sport of mixed martial arts (MMA). It also has many forums and discussion pages on the many topics of MMA like records, promotions, etc. The site is a member of the CraveOnline network and provides MM ...

and #3 Atomweight according to

Fight Matrix Fight Matrix , MMA Rankings, Records, Statistics is an independent, comprehensive, mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter ranking system portal. It is one of the sport's most recognized ranking websites. According to FightMatrix: "The rankings on thi ...

Background

Due to her father's influence, she started wrestling from the age of 5 and belonged to "Tokyo Gold Kids" from the upper grades of elementary school. Asakura won first at the 2011 Klippan Ladies International Wrestling Tournament in the cadet division for 38kg and in the first year of high school, she achieved a brilliant record of 3rd place in the 46 kg class of the National High School Championships. She quit wrestling at 16, she re-entered high school, and while thinking about what to do with her future, saw footage of shoot boxing and

shoot wrestling Shoot wrestling is a combat sport that originated in Japan's professional wrestling circuit of the 1970s. Professional wrestlers of that era attempted to use more realistic or even "full contact" moves in their matches to increase their exciteme ...

bouts. Seeing an avenue to make use of her wrestling and the Jiu Jitsu she was learning, she started mixed martial arts.

Mixed martial arts career

Asakura made her professional mixed martial arts debut on October 4, 2014 at the age of 17 when she faced Naomi Okaki at Vale Tudo Japan 6 and won by unanimous decision. Following this, Asakura compiled a professional record of 9–2, with wins over

Yasuko Tamada is a Japanese female mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter. She previously fought as a flyweight in the Valkyrie promotion and was the only Valkyrie Flyweight Champion. She later fought for Jewels and last competed for Deep. Tamada was once ranked a ...

and

Saori Ishioka is a Japanese female mixed martial artist, kickboxer and karateka. She has participated in MMA promotions Smackgirl and Jewels. Her nickname is Shooting Star. Background Ishioka was born on in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. She started judo dur ...

, before signing with the

to join their Super Bantamweight World Grand Prix Tournament in December 2017.

Rizin FF

Super Atomweight Grand Prix

Victorious in the quarterfinals and semifinals, Asakura advanced to the finals, then competing in front of 18,316 fans in what was arguably the biggest women’s title fight in Japanese MMA history, choked out Shoot Boxing superstar

Rena Kubota , better known by her ring name Rena or Reina, is a professional Japanese shoot wrestler, kickboxer and mixed martial artist, currently competing in the strawweight division of Rizin. A professional competitor since 2007, Kubota previously co ...

to become the Super Atomweight Grand Prix winner. On May 6, 2018 Kanna Asakura faced Melissa Sophia Karagianis at Rizin 10. She won the fight via three round unanimous decision extending her win streak to 7. After the fight

entered the ring and challenged her to a rematch. Soon after the fight was made official, and scheduled to take place on July 29, 2018 at Rizin 11 in Saitama,

. Despite several improvements from Rena, Asakura used her relentless pressure to win the bout by unanimous decision.

First title shot

Asakura faced

Ayaka Hamasaki is a Japanese female mixed martial artist, judoka and submission grappler. She is the former Rizin Super Atomweight Champion. She has fought in MMA promotions ''Shooto'', Jewels and Rizin in Japan, and Invicta FC in the United States. Hamasaki ...

on December 21, 2018 at Rizin 14 for the inaugural Rizin Super Atomweight Championship. She lost the bout in the second rout via armbar. On March 9, 2019, she faced against DEEP JEWELS Atomweight champion

Tomo Maesawa Tomo may refer to: People Surname *Angele Tomo (born 1989), Cameroonian freestyle wrestler * Sutomo (1920-1981), also known as Bung Tomo, Indonesian military leader during the Indonesian National Revolution * Taite Te Tomo (1883–1939), Maori po ...

in a non-title bout at Deep Jewels 23 and won via a unanimous decision. On June 2, 2019, Asakura faced

Miyuu Yamamoto is a Japanese female freestyle wrestler and mixed martial artist. Yamamoto is a three-time freestyle wrestling world champion and a Rizin Women's Super Atomweight title contender in MMA. She is represented with Krazy Bee. Personal life Miyuu ...

at Rizin 16. She lost the bout via unanimous decision. On August 18, 2019, Kanna faced future Invicta FC Atomweight Champion Alesha Zappitella at RIZIN 18 and won a split unanimous decision. On December 29, 2019, Kanna faced Jamie Hinshaw at Bellator 237/Bellator Japan and won via a third round armbar. On August 9, 2020, she faced Mizuki Furuse at Rizin 22 and won via TKO by pounding. On December 31, 2020, Kanna faced Ai Shimizu at Rizin 26, winning the bout via unanimous decision.

Second title shot

Asakura faced

in a rematch for the Rizin Super Atomweight Championship at Rizin 27 on March 21, 2021. She lost a close bout via split decision. Asakura faced the reigning Jewels atomweight and DEEP Microweight champion

Saori Oshima Saori Oshima (大島沙緒里, born 14 November 1994), née Saori Adachi, is a Japanese mixed martial artist. She currently competes in the atomweight division of Jewels. She is the current Jewels atomweight champion and the current DEEP Microw ...

Rizin 31 - Yokohama Rizin Fighting Federation (Rizin FF or Rizin) is a Japanese mixed martial arts organization created in 2015 by the former Pride Fighting Championships and Dream Stage Entertainment president Nobuyuki Sakakibara. Rizin was founded to be the spir ...

on October 24, 2021. She lost the bout via split decision. Asakura faced the Shooto Super Atomweight champion

Satomi Takano is a Japanese mixed martial artist, currently competing in the atomweight division of Shooto, where she is the current Shooto Super Atomweight champion. Mixed martial arts career DEEP JEWELS Early career Takano made her professional debut agai ...

on April 17, 2022 at

Rizin 35 Rizin Fighting Federation (Rizin FF or Rizin) is a Japanese mixed martial arts organization created in 2015 by the former Pride Fighting Championships and Dream Stage Entertainment president Nobuyuki Sakakibara. Rizin was founded to be the sp ...

. She won the fight by unanimous decision.

Super Atomweight Grand Prix 2022

Asakura faced

Si Woo Park Si Woo Park (born 26 June 1991) is a South Korean mixed martial artist, currently competing in the atomweight division of Jewels. As of January 3, 2022, Fight Matrix ranks her as the eight best atomweight in the world, while Sherdog ranks her as ...

in the quarterfinal bout of the Rizin Super Atomweight Grand Prix at Rizin 37 - Saitama on July 31, 2022. She lost the fight by unanimous decision.

Personal life

After her bout at Rizin 11, Asakura was seen hugging kickboxing superstar

Tenshin Nasukawa is a Japanese professional kickboxer Kickboxing is a combat sport focused on kicking and punching. The combat takes place in a boxing ring, normally with boxing gloves, mouthguards, shorts, and bare feet to favour the use of kicks. Kickboxi ...

, fuelling further speculation that they may be in a relationship. They later confirmed that they were dating.
They broke up at the end of 2019 after photos of Tenshin being physical with Rizin

ring girl Ring may refer to: * Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry * To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell :(hence) to initiate a telephone connection Arts, entertainment and media Film and ...

, Hakase Mai, leaked online. She also has a Youtube channel with 100K subscribers and 15 million views.

Championships and accomplishments

** Rizin Women's Super Atomweight Grand Prix Winner

Mixed martial arts record

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Deep Jewels 15 These are the Deep Jewels events held by the Japanese mixed martial arts (MMA) organization Deep. The ''Jewels'' MMA events were previously held by Jewels before Deep absorbed its operations on . ''Deep Jewels 1'' ''Deep Jewels 1'', originally ...

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Syuri Kondo is a Japanese professional wrestler, shoot boxer, kickboxer and mixed martial artist, better known simply as . Syuri formerly competed in Ultimate Fighting Championship. Syuri is currently working for World Wonder Ring Stardom, where she is the ...

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Amateur mixed martial arts record

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Nagano Nagano may refer to: Places * Nagano Prefecture, a prefecture in Japan ** Nagano (city), the capital city of the same prefecture *** Nagano 1998, the 1998 Winter Olympics *** Nagano Olympic Stadium, a baseball stadium in Nagano *** Nagano Universi ...

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Asakura, Kanna 1997 births Living people People from Chiba Prefecture Japanese female mixed martial artists Atomweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing wrestling Mixed martial artists utilizing boxing Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu Japanese practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu Female Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioners

Background

Mixed martial arts career

Rizin FF

Super Atomweight Grand Prix

First title shot

Second title shot

Super Atomweight Grand Prix 2022

Personal life

Championships and accomplishments

Mixed martial arts record

Amateur mixed martial arts record

See also

References