Japanese standout Takayo Hashi will compete in her biggest fight to date this Friday when she makes her Strikeforce debut against undefeated Canadian Sarah Kaufman at Strikeforce Challengers 6. Hashi will compete for the first Strikeforce Women’s Welterweight (135-Pound) Championship live on Showtime and Super Channel.

Fellow Strikeforce competitor and part-time training partner Roxanne Modafferi took time to speak with Hashi as the former Smackgirl Champion prepares for her first appearance in a Strikeforce cage.

More of Roxanne’s writing can be found on her blog and website.

Takayo Hashi (12-1-0) is a force to be reckoned with, both in the ring or cage and in the dojo.

“She’s as strong as a guy!” I overheard another Keishukai fighter say. His buddy replied, “She’s stronger than half the guys here!”

Fighting out of the Wajyutsu Keisyukai Tokyo Honbu dojo, Hashi debuted in GCM’s “Cross Section” in 2004. She continued her career in Smackgirl, and proceeded to smash all of her opponents. Only AACC star Hitomi Akano (married name Hiraiwa) stole a win by armbar. Hashi avenged this loss in 2007 via decision, and at the same time won the Smackgirl Middleweight Championship.

Also in 2007, she competed in the Abu Dhabi Grappling Championships and took third place in her division. In 2008, she competed in MMA for the first time in the United States in the all-female cage-fighting promotion Fatal Femmes Fighting. Her opponent was the veteran Amanda Buckner.

The two fought an all-out war to a decision and Hashi won the nod, in what most would agree was the fight of the night. Coming up as a ground fighter, Hashi displayed sharpened striking skills that she’d been working on with her primary trainer, Keiji Koizumi.

When asked, “What are you good at doing besides fighting?” she replied with a laugh, “I’m good at losing my cell phone. I lost it four times in one year!” She also likes snowboarding, watching movies and the TV series Lost.

When asked how she started fighting, she replied, “My brother did MMA, and I used to watch him train and compete. So I wanted to try it, too.” Since then, she’s trained hard night after night, earning her reputation as a serious athlete; something especially difficult to do in Japan.

Finally, she will get another chance to show the world outside of Japan what she can do. Coming off of her win against Chisa Yonezawa in GCM’s all-female Valkyrie division, Hashi is ready for Canadian Sarah Kaufman on February 26th in Strikeforce.

Regarding her opponent, Hashi wrote on her blog, “Ten fights and 8 KOs is so good it’s funny, but for me to be able to fight against such an opponent is great motivation. To be able to challenge her for the title is really going to be a momentous experience. I’m always ready and waiting to fight, but this time I’m going into this heart and soul, with Japanese pride. I’m definitely going to bring the belt home to Japan!”

Takayo Hashi’s blog (in Japanese) can be found here.

(Photo Credit: Sherdog.com)