Former Deep Jewels interim lightweight champ Emi Tomimatsu returned to her winning ways with a well-deserved Split Decision victory on Sunday night at Road Fighting Championship 19 in Seoul, South Korea. Tomimatsu outpointed Hyo Kyung Song in a two-round strawweight bout on the card.
Song had moments of success on the feet in both rounds, but Tomimatsu’s takedowns and superior grappling allowed her to control most of the fight in the clinch and on the mat. Song secured a sweep and finished the fight strong with ground and pound, but it was not enough to steal back the win.
Tomimatsu (8-8-0) and Song (1-5-0) exchanged power punches on the feet right away and the eccentric South Korean fighter backed the former Deep Jewels champion up against the cage. Knees to the body scored for Song and she followed with a running flurry of punches, but Tomimatsu countered with a quick takedown. Song stood up and the fighters were soon separated, but Tomimatsu wasted no time in taking Song back down to the ground.
Song landed some nice upkicks from her back, but Tomimatsu dropped down into side control and she soon passed to mount. She landed punches from the top until Song was able to scramble and regain half-guard. The fight returned to the feet and the referee called for a break after discovering a mystery mouthpiece from a previous bout that had been left on the mat. Action continued and Tomimatsu scored another key takedown before the end of the entertaining round.
Song stunned Tomimatsu with a right hook early in round two, but the Japanese veteran recovered and shot in for a takedown. Song defended well and stayed on her feet, and she stuffed another takedown attempt moments later. Tomimatsu escaped from a standing guillotine choke by tripping Song to the mat and she went to work from Song’s half-guard. Song scrambled to her knees and Tomimatsu attempted a bulldog choke. Song took top position and landed punches, then kicked at Tomimatsu’s ribs as the fighters stood up. Time expired with Tomimatsu trying unsuccessfully for a takedown.
One judge oddly scored the fight for Song, but the remaining two both sided with Tomimatsu, who took a well-earned Split Decision victory and has now won three of her past four bouts. Song, who picked up a dominant TKO win for Road FC in July, suffered her first loss at home in South Korea.
Winner: Emi Tomimatsu by Split Decision after two rounds. She improves to 8-8-0.
(Photo Credit: Deep Jewels)