Hisae Watanabe is a Japanese female mixed martial artist and kickboxer. She stands out with her distinctive two-piece leopard-print outfit and matching hair, which was formerly auburn or red but is now blond. She is a former DEEP Women's Lightweight Champion and currently holds an MMA record of 19-6-0. Watanabe is featured in the martial arts-themed movie High Kick Girl! which was filmed with real fighting scenes and did not use any stunt actors. It was released in select countries in May 2010.
Following a successful career in kickboxing, Watanabe debuted in mixed martial arts on April 7, 2002 at Smackgirl: "Royal Smack 2002" but was disqualified after an illegal kick. She won four of her next five fights before losing to Satoko Shinashi in the Grand Final of the 2002 SmackgirlJapan Cup. Watanabe then won nine straight fights, including two in Pancrase, and became the 2004 Golden Muscle Strongest Queen Tournament Champion. On August 4, 2006, Watanabe knocked out the previously undefeated Shinashi with a hard punch to the chin in a rematch to capture the DEEP Women's Lightweight Championship. Shinashi suffered a broken jaw and a cheekbone fracture from the punch and a big cut from her face hitting the canvas. She retains a permanent bruise on her left cheek from Watanabe's knockout punch. Watanabe was defeated by Seo Hee Ham in a non-title bout at DEEP: 28th Impact on February 16, 2007. Watanabe submitted Masako Yoshida on April 13, 2007, but lost the DEEP Women's Lightweight Championship to Miku Matsumoto at DEEP: 31st Impact on August 5, 2007. Following a December 2007 victory over Genkaam Lookjuapoakum at DEEP: 33rd Impact, Watanabe announced her retirement from mixed martial arts. More than one year later, she competed in an exhibition match against Megumi Fujii at Shoot Boxing Girls Tournament 2009 and announced her intentions to return to MMA at Jewels 6th Ring in December. However, a broken foot suffered in training prevented her from competing. Watanabe was then expected to make her return to MMA at Jewels 11th Ring on December 17, 2010. However, she did not compete on the card. Watanabe made her Jewels debut in an exhibition match against Naoko Omuro at Jewels: 22nd Ring on December 15, 2012. The exhibition ended when Omuro trapped Watanabe in an armbar late in round one.
Watanabe was set to compete in a shoot boxing match against 2009 Girls S-Cup Champion Rena Kubota on April 11, 2010. Kubota suffered a broken finger while training and the fight with Watanabe was postponed. Watanabe instead faced karate champion Megumi Igawa and defeated Igawa by TKO in the third round. She competed again in shoot boxing against Sumie Yamada in a rematch on June 6, 2010. Watanabe had previously knocked out Yamada in a November 2002 mixed martial arts bout. She defeated Yamada by unanimous decision. Watanabe entered the 2010 Girls S-Cup on August 29, 2010. She faced Rena Kubota in the opening round of the tournament and was defeated by TKO in round two.
Return to kickboxing
On July 19, 2010, Watanabe faced Little Tiger for the WPMF Japan Women's Mini Flyweight Championship at REBELS 3. The five-round fight ended in a Split Draw with scores of 50-49, 49-49 and 48-49.
