Ayaka Watanabe “Nabe-Aya (ナベアヤ)”

Ayaka Watanabe is a 29-year-old women's super atomweight out of AACC / IDEA Asakusa, born June 14, 1997, in Aichi Prefecture (157cm). She turned pro in December 2020, opening her career with a first-round TKO win at Deep Jewels 31. Her early run outside Shooto was rockier — a third-round decision loss to Emi Fujino at Pancrase in October 2022 — before she made her Shooto debut in January 2023 with a second-round TKO of Mina Kurobe.

Four months later, in May 2023, Watanabe TKO'd SARAMI in round two to win the then-vacant Shooto World Women's Super Atomweight Championship — the third fighter to hold the title. She hasn't lost inside Shooto since, but she did drop two decisions outside the promotion: a split-decision loss to Manji at RIZIN LANDMARK 6 in October 2023, and a unanimous-decision loss to Park Bo-hyun at Shooto Colors Vol.3 in August 2024 — a defeat that was followed by roughly two years out of competition. Across all promotions she's 4-3 over 7 fights (3 wins by KO/TKO, 1 by submission, all three losses by decision); within Shooto specifically, she's 4-1.

Watanabe made her comeback on July 20, 2026, at PROFESSIONAL SHOOTO 2026 Vol.5 in Korakuen Hall — a card the promotion itself billed as her title defense headlining over Taiga Iwasaki's middleweight tournament final. Facing Chiyo Takamoto, who had earned the shot by winning the Infinity League 2025 Women's Super Atomweight tournament, "Nabe-Aya" took her opponent's back and finished with a rear-naked choke in round three at 2:41 — her first successful defense since winning the belt in 2023.