By:  | July 19, 2023 11:01 am

Itsuki Hirata is at the beach. The 23 year old shared some pics of herself soaking in the sun in what appears to be a brand new snake skin bikini.

The social media savvy fighter has amassed 275,000 Instagram followers. But being a successful online influencer does have its drawbacks as Hirata discovered to her cost last year.

She was inundated with negative comments after missing weight ahead of her fight with Seo Hee Ham. It was not the first time that Hirata had issue at the scales and the Korean simply refused to fight her.

They finally faced off at ONE Fight Night 8 and although Hirata lost by decision she sailed through the pre fight weight and hydration checks. The Japanese fighter seems to be in a better place now and looks like she is enjoying life.

Top prospect

Hirata won her first five ONE Championship fights to emerge as one of the top prospects in a division that is stacked with young talent. She missed out on a spot in the semi finals of the atomweight Grand Prix after falling ill on fight week.

But with two decision losses in her last three the Japanese fighter’s stock has fallen. Her only recent win came at the expense of Heqin Lin and Hirata missed weight by 2kgs ahead of that fight.

She was blasted by her Chinese opponent who felt Hirata had disrespected her by making no effort to come in at or under the strawweight limit. That might have influenced Seo Hee Ham’s decision to refuse to fight her, it was the third time in seven ONE Championship fights that the Japanese fighter had failed to make weight.

Best to come

Hirata’s career has had some incredible ups and downs considering she only made her professional debut four years ago. At 23 she probably feels that the best is yet to come and she certainly has plenty of experience.

She definitely wasn’t at her best against Seo Hee Ham and seemed to be content just to make it to the final bell in that fight. The Korean is one of the best atomweights in the world but Hirata was criticized for her lack of ambition.

That was a title eliminator and Ham will fight for the interim belt next. She faces Stamp Fairtex at ONE Fight Night 14 in September while Hirata is still waiting for a date and opponent.

At 23 time is very much on the Korean’s side. She is one of the most popular fighters on the roster and will be hoping she can start enjoying sustained success inside the cage as well as on social media.