Chihiro Sawada, Wei Rui break into the top five-rankings after triumphant outings at ONE Fight Night 22
Japanese starlet Chihiro Sawada and Chinese kickboxing megastar Wei Rui find themselves in the top five of their respective divisions off their fine performances at ONE Fight Night 22.
Per checks on onefc.com, Sawada now sits as the No.3-ranked contender in the stacked atomweight MMA division, forcing Alyona Rassohyna (No.4) and Tiffany Teo (No.5) to move a spot down.
ONE Championship mainstay Jihin Radzuan, previously at No.5, will have to work her way back into a spot after splitting between a victory and a defeat in her last two assignments.
Chihiro Sawada took home a clear-cut unanimous decision over French-Thai athlete Noelle Grandjean inside the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium on May 3 to move closer to the atomweight MMA gold.
Before that win, the undefeated AACC upstart got her ONE campaign underway with back-to-back victories against Sanaz Fayazmanesh and Jihin.
As for 'Demon Blade,' the multi-time K-1 world champion secured his stop as the top-ranked contender in the bantamweight kickboxing division by taking out the division's former kingpin, Hiroki Akimoto, inside the Mecca of Muay Thai.
Though he struggled to find his feet against Akimoto early, the 32-year-old kickboxing dynamo did enough in the later rounds to impress all three judges at ringside in Bangkok, Thailand.
Given his latest position, a showdown against ONE bantamweight kickboxing world champion Jonathan Haggerty could be on the horizon.
What could be next for Chihiro Sawada and Wei Rui?
As the No.3 contender, Chihiro Sawada, who boasts an 8-0 resume, could be up against a former ONE atomweight MMA world title challenger next.
With divisional queen Stamp and No.2-ranked Denice Zamboanga set to collide in the main event of ONE 167, Sawada could potentially land herself a tie against top-ranked athlete Ham Seo Hee.
The South Korean veteran is eager to post another win on her resume after falling short in her world title bid to Stamp at ONE Fight Night 14.
However, the Japanese star's brilliant all-around game has been no match for anyone thus far, and by the looks of it, she could pull clear of any contender to position herself as the next in line for a shot at the atomweight gold.
Relive Sawada and Wei's performances at ONE Fight Night 22 for free on the ONE Championship YouTube channel and the ONE Super App. North American fans can replay the event via Amazon Prime Video.