Bi Nguyen Out, Nyrene Crowley Steps In To Face Itsuki Hirata
Nyrene “Neutron Bomb” Crowley is ready to capitalize on her big opportunity.
The 30-year-old has officially graduated from Rich Franklin’s ONE Warrior Series to ONE Championship’s main roster, and she will make her first promotional appearance on Friday, 7 February.
She is scheduled to face undefeated Japanese rising star Itsuki “Strong Heart Fighter” Hirata at ONE: WARRIOR’S CODE, which emanates from the Istora Senayan in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Crowley will replace Vietnamese-American athlete Bi “Killer Bee” Nguyen, who withdrew from the women’s atomweight mixed martial arts bout due to injury.
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Crowley made her professional debut in February 2017. She submitted Xue Wang via rear-naked choke in the second round of their clash at an event in her native Auckland, New Zealand.
In early 2018, she relocated to Indonesia to train at Bali MMA and received the opportunity to compete in ONE Warrior Series.
“Neutron Bomb” earned a pair of victories against So Yul Kim and Anita Karim, and then she engaged in two very competitive battles with Michele Ferreira to close out her stint in the promotion’s developmental league.
Now, she joins the main roster and becomes the first Kiwi female to sign with The Home Of Martial Arts.
Despite that honor, Crowley has been given a difficult assignment for her historic ONE debut.
In Hirata, she meets an immensely talented 20-year-old who has dominated every single one of her adversaries.
The Tokyo native has defeated all five of her opponents via submission. Most recently at ONE: CENTURY PART I, she forced Rika “Tiny Doll” Ishige to tap out via armbar.
Aside from this exciting clash, ONE: WARRIOR’S CODE will feature a main event contest between Petchmorakot Petchyindee Academy and Jamal “Kherow” Yusupov for the inaugural ONE Featherweight Muay Thai World Championship.
