Jessamyn Duke vs Leslie Smith

Photo Courtesy of Sherdog

The UFC announced that Jessamyn Duke (3-1-1) will be facing off against Leslie Smith (6-5-1) in a battle of Invicta graduates. This is an interesting match for several reasons. First off, don't let her record fool you. Smith is a very talented fighter that is known for striking output and pace during her fights. Not only has she fought some tough fighters, she has beaten Raquel Pennington (4-4). As many of you know, during the 135 women's season of TUF, Pennington and Duke fought in a back and forth brawl that saw Pennington emerge the victor. Having Duke fight Smith will allow us to see if and how much she has improved since TUF. With Smith being known for brawling, it may be safe to say that the UFC is hoping for a repeat of Pennington and Duke.

Coming off of a loss to Bethe Correia, Duke is in a tough spot going into this fight. In her fight with Correia, Duke seemed hesitant to use her reach advantage and or pull the trigger with her strikes. If she loses this fight, that will be 2 in a row and for someone who was on TUF but didn't win that might be all. Smith is in a similar boat as Duke but she accepted her last fight on short-notice against a tough opponent so that should not be held against her. However a win against Duke would do a lot for her exposure and would ensure her continuance in the UFC.

As we know, anything can happen during a fight, but having seen them both fight numerous times I find it hard to think that Smith won't win. She has fought tougher opponents, is aggressive, has the cardio and will get in Duke's face. In her past couple of fights Duke has seemed hesitant and doesn't seem to be improving at the rate that she needs to be. Smith is the better grappler and unless Duke starts using her reach and fighting like a tall fighter, Smith will also be the better striker.

Emi Fujino Blog: A lot of training at different gyms

From Emi Fujino's Blog

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Today around noon I went to Ozawa's gym, Hearts, and received some training.

I've been working on my terrible wrestling every time now.

Even though the picture shows different (lol)

After that, I went to V's new gym with Tomimatsu-chan and we three practiced together.

We are still recruiting members.

After training, we devoured some of Coach Tsuda's amazing French Toast that he dropped off.

It was perfection.

Gochisousama.

(A Japanese word used after eating/being treated to a meal)

After that I went to the sauna with V.

I think I'm going to sleep well tonight.

Mika Nagano Blog: Unexpected Happening

The following is from Mika Nagnao's blog. Translated from Japanese to English

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It's entering into the rainy season in Kanto

It's not that I dislike the rain, but it's been raining for several days so I've had trouble doing the laundry.(´・ω・`)

It's been a long time since I updated my blog.

How are things going with all of you? 

Concerning me, well I had a miscarriage about a month ago.

It was really unexpected.

Now, I've been able to calm down and compose my body and my mind and have turned myself towards being a housewife.

Since the miscarriage, my husband has been near my non-stop, doing the chores around the house time and time again, it made me think that I'm really happy I married him.

We will go forward as a couple.

Since I got pregnant, I gained 7 kg so I've started dieting and I'm thinking about going back to the gym with my husband.

Is the next one in August? Maybe I will go make an appearance at Deep Jewels

In the hot and in the cold, please take care of yourselves everyone. 

Ham Seo Hee Interview

Ham Seo Hee with Stun Gun

I recently read a Ham Seo Hee interview that I thought I would share. I got the interview off of LADY GO!. He translated the Korean from the video into Japanese which I am now translating into English. 

A crybaby at home, Rambo in the ring

When I was 20, I crossed over the Sea of Japan, now I've fought over there so many times. 

For about 7 years I was 2nd…2nd...2nd…then I was finally able to hold a championship.

I'm a female warrior that enjoys nail art. Sometimes when I watch T.V Dramas I cry, I also want to be a nail artist myself. I'm a fighter but I also have a kind heart, I have 4 dimensions, that's the kind of girl I am.

When I was in Junior High School, I got in a lot of fights, I really wanted to be a Talent Artist, but when I was in High School I went to a kick boxing tournament and my eyes were opened, it was a new world to me.

When someone messes up my face, I fight with an intensity/fury until the end, when it's over I can feel the blood pumping up my neck.

I fight with everything I have till the last second! If it's a fight that I feel content with, I don't care if I lose. My ultimate goal, is to travel to and fight on the American scene, till the end.

For those that Speak Korean

For those that Speak Japanese

ハムのインタビュー　日本語で

"V.V" Mei Opens Gym

Coming off of her victory last month, "V.V" Mei Yamaguchi has opened up her own Karate Gym. Having started when she was 7, Mei has been teaching the art for awhile now. With her background in Karate, it is only natural that like Kikuno and Machida it is a distinctive part of her MMA style and now those in the Tokyo can learn from her at her own gym.

International Genseiryu Karate-Do Federation

Budoku-Kai, Morishita Branch

Koutoku, Morishita, 3rd Chrome, 11-2 Chiba Building 1st Floor

In a recent blog entry, Mei said that she will be having a Pro Women's class on Saturdays from 7:00 to 9:00. She also wrote that she will be having MMA classes on Wednesdays and Fridays. She is looking to recruit people for her Pro MMA classes.

If you are in Tokyo why not go learn from one of the best? If you want to, you should get in contact with her for details or message me and I'll point you in her direction.

Saya Ito to face Momi

Saya Ito

An interesting fight has been put together on the Japanese Muay Thai scene as Saya Ito will be stepping into the ring with Momi on July 13th. Having risen to a level of recognition during her amateur career going 78-12-3, this will be Ito's 2nd professional fight. She made her debut in April and won via decision. Her opponent, Momi Furuta, is a tough fighter who has fought some of the best in Japan. Momi, who holds a record of 20-8-5, has defeated Mio and Chiharu and lost to Erika Kamimura and Little Tiger. For only her 2nd professional fight Momi should be a good test to gauge the skill level of Saya Ito.

Miri Sasaki

Also on the card is Ito's teammate Miri Sasaki. Her opponent has yet to be announced. I wasn't able to find any sort of professional record for Sasaki and I believe she has an amateur record of 7-5. Ito and Sasaki's gym, Shobukai seems to be training a numer of elite females as it looks like Shiho Van Hoose also did some training there while she was in Japan.

These fights will be for Muaylok 2014: 2nd on July 13th

Mousasi's Japanese Nickname

After watching the fights this weekend, I was reading about some of the fighters. In an interview Mousasi talked about how he preferred to not have a nickname and that he doesn't really care for being called "The Dreamcatcher". He then went on to state that he has a lot of nicknames, one of which is Kengo in Japan. I didn't recognize the word. When I put the symbols into the translator it came out as "fist, Australia". That didn't make any sense so curiosity got the better of me and I decided to figure it out.

Kengo 拳豪

The translator told me that 拳 meant fist and that 豪 meant Australia

So I jumped over to Mousasi's Japanese wikipedia page and found some answers. It stated that many Japanese fans noted that Mousasi was strong on the feet and on the ground. In a sense he fought with two weapons, his stand-up and his ground. 

One of the most famous samurai of all time was Miyamoto Musashi. Musashi, which sounds a lot like Mousasi, was famous for fighting and winning over 60 duels (often to the death) and for fighting with two swords. So not only do they have similar sounding names but they both fought with two weapons.

In Japanese you could say that Miyamoto Musashi was a Kengo 剣豪.

剣豪 means master fencer

剣 means sword

So the sound is the same "kengo" but the symbol for sword has been replaced with fist.

It is interesting to see how this nickname came together and I for one, like it better than The Dreamcatcher.