"I have so much respect for her" - Undefeated Chihiro Sawada calls out Ham Seo Hee after beatdown of Noelle Grandjean
Chihiro Sawada called for a fight against Ham Seo Hee after extending her unbeaten professional MMA record.
At ONE Fight Night 22, Japanese wrestler Sawada returned for her third fight under the ONE Championship banner. This time, the 26-year-old rising women's atomweight MMA contender took on Noelle Grandjean, who didn't have an answer for her opponent's high-level grappling skills.
Sawada dominated her way to a unanimous decision win to establish a 3-0 promotional record. During a post-fight interview with Sportskeeda, the Japanese-born fighter had this to say about wanting to fight number one-ranked Ham Seo Hee next time out:
"I want to fight against Ham Seo Hee. I know she has fought in Japan so many times, I know she is a strong fighter, and I have so much respect for her, so that's why I want to fight her."
The replay of ONE Fight Night 22, including Sawada's one-sided win against Grandjean, can be seen for free by North American and Canadian viewers with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription.
Watch Chihiro Sawada's entire interview with Sportskeeda below:
Ham Seo Hee vs. Chihiro Sawada could fight for a women's atomweight MMA title shot
Ham Seo Hee last fought in September 2023, suffering a third-round knockout loss against Stamp Fairtex for the vacant women's atomweight MMA world title. Now holding a 3-1 promotional record, Ham looks to get back on track and potentially secure another title shot with an impressive win next time out.
Although Chihiro Sawada isn't ranked, she's proven to be a future world title challenger. Therefore, ONE Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong could decide to match up the Japanese grappler with Ham to determine who received a title shot against Stamp Fairtex.
In the meantime, Stamp will defend her throne against close friend and former training partner Denice Zamboanga on June 7 in the ONE 167 main event. The Thai superstar is also scheduled to challenge Xiong Jing Nan for the latter's strawweight MMA world title on Sept. 5 in the ONE 168 main event.