MANILA, Philippines – The new chapter in Junna Tsukii’s journey as a fighter kicked off to an explosive start that resulted in a resounding triumph.
The Philippines’ former top karateka debuted in style in her venture into the world of mixed martial arts when she scored a first-round victory over Ruka Sakamoto via rear naked choke on Saturday, August 31, in the 2024 Deep Jewels Summer Festival held at the Odaiba Seikai R District in Tokyo, Japan.
The 32-year-old Tsukii, who retired from karate last June, opened hostilities by landing an overhand right less than 10 seconds into the opening round.
But the Filipino-Japanese was wise enough not to rush, knowing the danger presented by the 26-year-old Sakamoto, who had won her last two fights in kickboxing.
When Sakamoto started connecting on her leg kicks, Tsukii changed course and took down her Japanese foe with still less than four minutes remaining in the five-minute round.
Tsukii was able to establish full guard to ground and pound Sakamoto, whose repeated attempts at reversing positions proved futile.
The end came with less than three minutes to go when Tsukii started to rain blows on Sakamoto, who, in a desperate move to avoid getting pummeled, eventually gave up her back, allowing Tsukii the opening she needed to finish the fight.
“I was competing in one of the top karate competitions in the world until January, so there was only so much I could do in the preparation period of almost half a year,” Tsukii said in a social media post after the fight.
Tsukii, who reached a career-high world karate ranking of No. 3 in the female kumite -50kg last year, also shared her plans moving forward.
“As a professional, I will be working on mixed martial arts so that I can have even more exciting matches with stronger players,” she said.
Last June 13, Tsukii announced her retirement from karate, where she built a storied career representing the Philippines and became one of the country’s best karatekas in history.
Tsukii bacame the country’s first world karate champion when she bagged the gold medal in women’s kumite 50kg in the 2022 World Games held in Birmingham, United States.
The former Southeast Asian Games gold medalist also defeated an impressive array of fighters on her way to the world title, including European champion and 2021 World Championships silver medalist Shara Hubrich of Germany, two-time world champion and former world No.1 Miho Miyahara of Japan, and South American champion Yorgelis Salazar of Venezuela.
Tsukii’s other honors include a silver medal in the 2021 Asian Championships, a bronze in the 2018 Asian Games, and one gold, two silvers, and three bronzes in the SEA Games. – Rappler.com