DJ 5: Ayaka Miura vs Satomi Takano

In one of the matches that I am personally looking forward to, DJ young-guns Ayaka Miura and Satomi Takano will be engaging in a grappling match. The match will be contested at 48kg, so it will be interesting to see if Ayaka is permanently dropping down to that weight. Both fighters come from grappling backgrounds, solid camps and could be future contenders. What makes this match especially interesting is that these two could face each other fairly soon in a MMA match.

Name: Ayaka Miura

Age: 23

Height: 5"2 (158cm)

Weight: 115lb

Pro-debut: 5/18/2014

Record: 1-0

Having made her MMA debut on the last DJ card, Miura was one of the fighters that left an impression, choking her opponent unconscious with an arm-triangle in the first round. Having had an interest in martial arts since seeing Andy Hug fight on TV, Ayaka has been practicing Judo for more than 10 years. From Judo she branched out to grappling and BJJ. She's been training at Tribe Tokyo MMA for almost a year and has gained the respect of her trainer Ryo Chonan. In an interview he stated that when he saw her train, he noticed her aggressive style and that she reminded him of a demon. Holding a blue belt in BJJ, Ayaka has competed in a number of grappling matches over the past two years. In a recent episode of Deep Jewels TV she also stated that she trains with "V.V" Mei, Amiba and Miyoko amongst others outside of the gym. It will be interesting to see how far a talent like Ayaka can go and this match should be a good test for her.

Photo Courtesy of BoutReview

Name: Satomi "Sarami" Takano

Age: 24

Height: 5'1 (155cm)

Weight: 105 (48kg)

Pro-debut: 7/21/2012

Record: 3-4

Training out of Club Barbarian is Satomi. At 24, she is is one of DJ's younger fighters and looks to be improving. I often write that records are deceiving and this is a classic example of that. She has gone 1-2 in her last 3, but one of those was a split-decision loss to Sugirock and the other was against Saori Ishioka. The Ishioka fight was easily the most exciting fight on the card and Satomi hurt Ishioka badly with a punch before the wild grappling exchange. Since the loss, Satomi has been working extensively on her grappling. She even traveled to Taiwan to participate in a grappling tournament recently. As a lot of expectations have been placed on her to fill Miku's shoes, I expect to see her very determined to win this match.