Look: Two and a Half Years of Muay Thai Built Her Dream Body – The Transformation of Mizuki Mukaiyama 向山瑞紀
Mizuki Mukaiyama 向山瑞紀 stepped into the ring at RIZIN Landmark 12 in Kobe with expectations riding high, her Instagram posts freshly adorned with photos comparing her physique from two and a half years ago to her current frame sculpted entirely by Muay Thai.
How Muay Thai Transformed the Body of Mizuki Mukaiyama 向山瑞紀
The transformation wasn’t just cosmetic. Over thirty months of training, Mukaiyama rebuilt her body from the ground up using the tools the sport offers: kicks, knees, elbows, clinch work. Unlike traditional gym culture that chases bulk, Muay Thai strips you down and rebuilds you lean. Her legs strengthened through thousands of low kicks and knee strikes. Her shoulders and arms gained definition through constant pad work and clinching sessions. The result was a fighter who looked like she was carved from the demands of the sport itself, not someone who stumbled into shape accidentally.
Mukaiyama brought a professional record of 2-0, both wins by knockout from her Muay Thai debut, into her RIZIN kickboxing venture. Facing 17-year-old Nanoka Ito, a professional debutant whose claim to fame included sleeping quickly as her special skill, seemed like an obvious mismatch on paper.
But experience doesn’t always translate to victory on the night. Ito took the decision, claiming a unanimous win and handing Mukaiyama her first professional loss. By her own admission on Instagram, the loss stung harder than any she’d felt before. She called it “the most regrettable match” of her life, yet simultaneously “the most enjoyable and educational.”
Her global ambitions run deeper than RIZIN. Mukaiyama’s posted openly that her goal is competing and modeling work across the world through Muay Thai, with international work already accelerating her opportunities as a model. The training in Thailand, the fights abroad, the Instagram following climbing past 221,000.
