The world’s top female fighter, Megumi “Mega Megu” Fujii, upped her perfect professional record to 20-0 tonight at Bellator Fighting Championships 21 in Hollywood, Florida. Fujii picked up her first career TKO victory when she stopped Sarah “White Tiger” Schneider in the third round.
Schneider displayed an impressive guard and nullified much of Fujii’s offence on the ground, but Fujii bloodied Schneider late in the opening round and controlled the fight from start to finish. She will return to Bellator in the promotion’s 115-pound women’s tournament later this year.
Fujii (20-0-0) was the aggressor right from the start against Schneider (4-5-0), who dropped down from 135 pounds to face Fujii in a 120-pound catchweight. Schneider defended well on the ground and the fighters were stood up, but Fujii landed a nice combination and ducked under a spinning backfist. She took Schneider down and moved to mount for a submission attempt, then battered Schneider with punches that opened a cut on Schneider’s nose.
Fujii again took the fight to the ground in round two and fought off a rear-naked choke attempt. She landed punches from the top and moved to half-guard, but Schneider regained guard and referee Jorge Alonso stood the fighters up. Both landed punches on the feet and Fujii took Schneider down. Schneider utilised rubber guard and once again held on for a standup. Fujii ducked under another spinning backfist and took Schneider down, then scored with punches before the bell.
The final round began well for Schneider, who connected with a hard one-two. Fujii was unfazed and caught a kick, then took Schneider to the mat. She worked from Schneider’s half-guard, then passed to side-control and then mount. Fujii unloaded with punches from the top as Schneider covered up. Schneider blocked many of the strikes, but could not escape the position and the referee stopped the fight. Fujii picks up her first TKO victory in 20 career bouts.
Result: Megumi Fujii defeats Sarah Schneider by TKO (Punches) at 1:58 of round three. She improves to 20-0-0 with the win.
A victorious Megumi Fujii. (Photo Credit: Hitomi Akano).
Prior to the bout, Bellator announced that seven female fighters have been signed for the Bellator Season Three 115-Pound Women’s Tournament. The promotion has already confirmed that Fujii, Rosi Sexton, Lisa Ward and Jessica Pene will take part. In addition, Elena Reid previously announced her participation, while divisional standouts Jessica Aguilar and Angela Magana likely round out the remainder of the seven fighters signed to date. The lineup will be made final in the coming weeks.
(Top Photo Credit: Sherdog.com)