Deep Jewels 4

Some of the matches for Deep Jewels 4, which takes place on 5/18, have been announced. The main event will likely be a championship match between Shizuka Sugiyama (11-3) and Takayo Hashi (14-4), with the victor becoming the inaugural champion for Deep Jewels. Also on the card is the return of Saori Ishioka (12-7). She will be dropping weight, like many fighters in Asia right now, to 105 and will face off against Satomi Takano (3-3). Yuko Kawabata (0-5) will face Naomi Taniyama (0-2). 

As always bouts will be added to the card in the preceding weeks.

Rin Nakai to fight on 5/11

The Queen of Pancrasse, Rin Nakai (15-0-1) will be competing on the Pancrase 258 card on 5/11. This is an important card. Pancrase will be debuting a 10 sided cage, called the Decagon that they will use in future events. The fights will also be fought under Unified Rules. Unless I am mistaken, this will be the first time that Nakai has ever competed under Unified Rules and will be her first time back in the cage since her Valkyrie days. As a short and powerful fighter who likes to use her judo in the clinch, one would think that the transition to the cage could be beneficial. 

I will be sure to write more about the upcoming event as information is released.

The card will also feature Bantamweight King of Pancrase Shintaro Ishiwatari.

"V.V" Mei Yamaguchi to face Gina Iniong

On March 29th, Japanese Veteran Mei Yamaguchi (11-6-1) will be making her AtomWeight debut again Gina Iniong (2-1). 

2013-14 saw a lot of fighters retire in Japan. The women's divisions and the promotion Deep Jewels were especially effected. However there are still several very good fighters in Japan. One of these fighters is Mei Yamaguchi. Mei has fought stiff competition throughout her entire career and emerged with a respectable record. Yet, Mei has also competed for most of her career against larger and stronger opponents. Standing at 5ft, she was one of the shorter women in the 115lb division. Now that she is dropping to 105, I expect that she will be fighting on a physically more level playing field. I for one am all for the cut to 105. The 115lb division in Asia dried up over night and there is no one left for her to fight in the division. In addition, with Ham Seo Hee having successfully dropped and Ayaka Hamasaki following suit it only makes sense. Coming off of a razor-thin loss in her last fight, one can expect that Mei will be very motivated to get back into the win column and to make her 105 debut a successful one. 

Gina Iniong will be coming into the fight with a 2-1 record and will also be the hometown favorite. In her two victories she has finished both of her opponents in the first round. Iniong has to be incredibly motivated going into this fight. A chance to fight against a well known veteran is what most rising fighters hope for. A victory for Iniong will catapult her career much like Amber Brown's victory over Ishikawa. From what I gain, it looks like Gina comes from a Muay Thai and striking background. She looks to be very aggressive with her punches and likes to bully her opponents around the cage. 

Both of these fighters have pleasing styles to watch and it should be a good fight.

"V.V' Mei Fight Set

"V.V" Mei Yamaguchi will be making her second appearance for PXC on March 16th. An opponent has yet to be named but the fight will be taking place in the Philippines and she stated that her opponent will be a local. The fight will be at 48KG/105LB. Mei stated that she will be fighting at that weight from now on.

Mika Nagano set to Retire

Continuing on with a stream of retirements, Jewels poster girl Mika Nagano will be retiring at Deep Jewels 3. She will be taking part in an exhibition match followed by a retirement ceremony. This comes as a big loss to Deep Jewels and WMMA in Japan. Nagano was one of the promotions bigger draws and did quite a bit of promotional work. The fighter who was originally know for her wrestling and armbar finishes, has shown evolution in her recent fights. Her striking and ground and pound looked much improved recently. It is yet to be known why she is retiring and if she will continue with her pro wrestling. 

Kamikaze Angel Comes State-Side

LADY GO!

The news has been broken that long-time veteran of the Japanese MMA scene, Emi Fujino, will be making her foreign debut with WSOF. Shigeru Saeki, in charge of Deep Jewels, stated that Fujino has signed a 4 fight contract with WSOF and will make her debut sometime in March. Fujino will still be a part of Deep Jewels and will be their female representative in WSOF.

Emi Fujino released the following statement:

I have received a multiple fight contract from WSOF. I am planned to make my debut in March. It has been a dream of mine for a long time to fight outside of Japan. I would like to thank those who have supported me up to getting this contract! Next year, it will be 10 years since my pro-debut. I will show my strongly built skills. Please continue to support me.

Emi Fujino is very unique for a Japanese fighter. That is one of the reasons that it will be interesting to see her fight abroad. Fujino is a physically strong fighter who sticks to basic techniques. She is the strongest Japanese Strawweight and she also cuts weight before her fights. Both of these will give her an advantage that a lot of Japanese fighters lack when they fight outside of Japan. In addition to these advantages, Fujino is a tough in your face kind of fighter who tends to wear her opponents out. Her signing to the WSOF is both good news.

Here is an interview that I did with Fujino in 2012

Rena Wins by TKO: Shoot Boxing Results

Shoot Boxing's Oikawa Retirement Event went down on Monday, The Emperor's Birthday. As expected, Rena made quick work of her late replacement opponent. At 2:40 of the 1st RD, Kim Yuri's corner threw in the towel, giving Rena the TKO victory. Oikawa Dojo went a respectable 4-2 on the card.

Results 

Hiruaki Otsuki def. Tomohiro Oikawa via UD (3-0)

Nagulanchun Martha def. Choi Sang Kyung via UD (3-0)

Rena def. Kim Yuri via TKO (Towel Thrown In)

Yuki Sakamoto def. Masatoshi Hyakutake via UD (3-0)

Kouji Ikegami def. Suehiro Tomoaki via UD after Extension RD

Tapplon Forcegym def. Shinsuke Hirai via UD (3-0)

Mio def. Kira Chihiro via MD (2-0)

Yoshitomi Mishima def. Masahiro Shimada via UD (3-0)