The last time the world got to see Uta Abe compete was more than six months ago, in the 2025 Tokyo Grand Slam, where she won her 11th IJF Grand Slam gold medal.
She's making her return to the IJF circuit in the upcoming 2026 Ulaanbaatar Grand Slam, which also marks the start of the Olympic qualifications cycle.
Her main opponents will be Mascha Ballhaus (GER) and Odette Giuffrida (ITA). But she has beaten both of them before (Ballhaus three times and Giuffrida, twice).
There are also two strong players from Hungary who could challenge her: Roza Gyertas and Reka Pupp. Abe's beaten Gyertas once but has never fought Pupp. Could Pupp pull off a surprise and upset Abe? If she does, it'd most likely be on the ground where Pupp is very strong, especially with sode-guruma-jime. But Abe is very good on the ground too. Will Abe get her 12th Grand Slam gold?
Here's a look back at the past 11 Grand Slam gold medals she's won since 2017.
Blog posts
Abe returns to the IJF circuit. Will it be gold yet again?
Olympic qualifications to begin
The Ulaanbaatar Grand Slam marks the start of the Olympic qualifications period.
European Cadet to Olympic Gold
These Olympic Champions were all European Cadet Champions first.