“The culmination of my ten-year career” - Kana motivated to keep on pushing after world title loss to champ Phetjeeja
Veteran Japanese fighter Kana Morimoto fell short in her bid to seize the ONE atomweight kickboxing world title last weekend. Nonetheless, she was grateful for the opportunity, which she considered as one of the highlights of her career.
'Krusher Queen' battled atomweight kickboxing queen Phetjeeja in a title clash at ONE 172: Takeru vs. Rodtang on March 23 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.
The former K-1 champion put up a tough stand in the full five rounds, which Phetjeeja herself admitted more than what she was expecting, but it was not enough to get the nod of the judges, losing by unanimous decision.
In an Instagram post, Kana reflected on her showdown with Phetjeeja while also taking the opportunity to thank the people who was with her journey up to this point.
Part of her post read:
"Thank you so much to Tsukagoshi-san and Saki-chan for your support. So many people helped me during this preparation period. Thank you so much.
"Thank you so much to my sponsors for their daily support. This is the culmination of my ten-year career. I'm truly grateful to so many people. Thank you so much."
Kana made her promotional debut in December last year and has lost two of three matches to date in ONE Championship. She has yet to share what her next plans are but is set to talk to her team for the direction she will be taking moving forward.
The replay of ONE 172: Takeru vs. Rodtang is available at watch.onefc.com.
Kana basks in competing again at the Saitama Super Arena
While she fell short in her world title push at ONE 172, Kana Morimoto still felt honored to have competed once again at the Saitama Super Arena. It was one of the things she was looking forward to ahead of her marquee title showdown against Phetjeeja.
She spoke about it in an interview with ONE Championship, saying:
"I've fought twice before at Saitama Super Arena, and it's such a huge venue with a massive crowd. The atmosphere is completely different, and I want to enjoy everything about it."
While Kana lost at ONE 172, the hometown fans at Saitama Super Arena still had a lot to celebrate as eight Japanese fighters came away victorious at the event, which marked the return of ONE Championship to Japan for the second straight year.