UFC: Japanese star Mizuki Inoue’s sense of danger drives her towards Weili, Rose and Joanna
- Inoue hopes to prove she can ‘hang in there’ and get into UFC strawweight rankings when she takes on Amanda Lemos
- ‘Any day I could lose, any day I could get cut [from the roster]. I need to maintain that sense of danger so that makes me a little nervous every day’
Mizuki Inoue isn’t the only one to have been staggered by the fights being offered up in the UFC’s strawweight division already this year, from champion Zhang Weili’s five rounds of fury against Joanna Jędrzejczyk to the war that saw Rose Namajunas triumph over another fellow former champ in Jéssica Andrade, and beyond.
The difference between Inoue and us mere mortals, though, is that she has a stake in this particular game.
“In terms of Weili, Rose, Joanna, I’m not going to be able to fight them immediately,” says Inoue. “I will need a couple more fights at least. So I am actually relieved I don’t have to fight them immediately.
“I have time to work on my game. To beat these girls I have to be more skilful, I have to create something that is better than them. So I am looking to improve myself in the next couple of years – and then fight those girls.”
The 25-year-old Japanese phenom (14-5) was only signed by the UFC last year, and took a step right up to flyweight on a few weeks’ notice to make sure the opportunity didn’t slip through her grasp.