A
high-stakes middleweight clash headlines PFL Pittsburgh: Tune in
LIVE, Saturday, March 28 at 10 p.m. ET.
Sumiko
Inaba already tested herself against the best the
Professional Fighters League women’s flyweight division has to
offer, and she hopes to learn from those lessons.
Inaba will welcome
Ultimate Fighting Championship castoff Ariane
Lipski da Silva to the promotion when they collide in a
featured
PFL Pittsburgh attraction on Saturday at the UPMC Events
Center. Armed with a Top 5 ranking at 125 pounds, she plans to
break through to the top of the weight class. Inaba last appeared
at PFL Champions Series 2, where she dropped a three-round
unanimous decision to budding superstar Dakota
Ditcheva on July 19. Though she fell short in her bid to upset
the undefeated
American Top Team export, the insight the bout provided was
invaluable.
“It was an amazing experience to fight someone at that level, to
test myself at that level. I couldn’t be more proud to have done
that,” Inaba told Sherdog.com. “No matter how the fight was going,
I just wanted to prove that I could stick in there for the whole 15
minutes and still try to come up with something. She is who she is,
and she did a great job, too. I felt I didn’t really get to
implement any kind of game plan with that. Dakota’s just very good
at what she does. My game plan kind of went out the window with
that one. Being in a cage with someone [like Ditcheva], I have to
give myself that respect. I don’t sometimes see myself at that
level, but it’s a reality check for me and I have to believe in
that. I’m carrying that confidence into this [next] fight.”
Inaba now turns her attention to Lipski da Silva, a former
Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki champion for whom she has a great deal
of respect.
“She’s a great opponent, a UFC vet,” Inaba said. “It’s such a great
name for me to go up against and get a win over. I think styles
make fights, and it’s going to be great. She likes to stand, and
I’ve also seen her win by submission. She has it all. She mixes it
all up. It’s going to be a good challenge for me to use all my
tools, as well. I’m going to be able to show that I’ve trained very
hard for this one, and I’m excited it’s in Pittsburgh. My last
fight in South Africa was craziness. Getting there was craziness.
We had some hiccups travel-wise, losing my bags. It was a whole
ordeal, so just to be back in the [United] States, I’m excited for
that.”
‘Crazy to see my name in the Top 5’
Plenty of intrigue still surrounds Inaba. With the PFL’s new
rankings system in place and a move away from the tournament
format, she believes the company will continue to establish itself
as a power in the MMA marketplace.
“Just being with PFL has been a great experience,” Inaba said. “It
was a different thing at first, but now I feel like things are
finding a rhythm towards a better direction. The rankings were a
bit of a reality check, as well. At first, I didn’t believe it, but
it’s crazy to see my name in the Top 5 position. I can’t wait to
show everybody why I have that position. It’s a great test for me
getting to fight someone who has been through this sport and put
themselves in this position. It’s a big position for both of us.
I’m so ready for this fight.”