At this segment, we asked the fighters, people involved which fight they fought or saw became their turning point for their career.

—Yuki Motoya
Yuki Motoya will be facing Nam Jin Jo in RIZIN. The fight he chose as his turning point was his fight against Ryo Kibe, at the finals of the DEEP Flyweight Tournament in July 22, 2012. He won this bout in 18 seconds in the first round. By TKO. He became the first DEEP Flyweight Champion at 22.
“I really hadn’t fought much when I fought that fight, but I remember thinking I’m going to put it all for this fight. The fight ended with me landing a kick, but by winning the title, it made me reconfirm that I wanted to make a living by fighting. So that fight made me who I am today as a professional fighter.”

—RENA
RENA from Shooto Boxing will be making her MMA debut on NYE. The battle between the beauties with Italian kickboxer Jleana Valentino has been gathering a lot of attention. Her turning point was the fight held on November 23, 2011 at RISE 85 ~ championship bout against Erica Kamimura. RENA won by unanimous decision.
“Since I was coming off of a loss, people were saying that I would not win that fight. I remember it the most because I haven’t lost since that fight. To be honest, I was planning to quit fighting after that fight. But because I had such a wonderful rival, I was able to motivate myself and come back stronger. If it wasn’t for that fight, I wouldn’t be here today and I wouldn’t be challenging MMA in RIZIN. That fight kept me growing as a fighter.

—Yuichiro Nagashima
Nagashima will be fighting kickboxing ironman Andy Souwer on NYE. He mentions stated earlier that he want’s everybody to focus on his cosplay but he also stated that he wants to restart the time which has stopped since he last fought on NYE. His pick was Takanori Gomi vs Tatsuya Kawajiri during the PRIDE Lightweight Tournament on September 25, 2005. Gomi ended up with the win by RNC 7minutes 42 seconds in round 1.
“When I witnessed how Gomi fights, I immediately thought that I wanted to become a fighter like him. Not a fighter who just wins, a fighter wins with fashion. I was moved by his performance and was inspired to be like him. That is why my motto as a professional fighter is win by KO or lose by KO. The fans enjoying my fight mean more than what the fight means to me.”