Itsuki Hirata
Hirata fights for Asian MMA promotion ONE FC and is one of the most popular female athletes on their roster. The atomweight contender began life as a judoka with Olympic dreams. However, injuries brought them crashing down and she transitioned to MMA. The Japanese star overcame adversity and is now one of their big names.

Meanwhile, the media-friendly fighter embraces her femininity. She’s happy to show that strong is beautiful as we can see from her Instagram pictures. Hirata also has several tattoos and defies Japan’s traditional cultural taboo. The up-and-coming fighter has a hard-nosed style and a lot of potential (via ONE FC).