SmackGIRL World ReMix Tournament Semi-Final Results
by Robert Sargent
Undefeated 115-pound superstar Megumi "Mega Megu" Fujii continued her reign of dominance, while Ana Michelle Tavares, Hitomi Akano and Ginele Marquez were also victorious in the SmackGIRL World ReMix Tournament Semi-Finals.
Fujii and Tavares will meet in the July 24th finals of the 115-pound division of the tournament, while Akano and Marquez will battle for the open-weight tournament title.
In the headlining bout of the evening, Japanese superstar Megumi "Mega Megu" Fujii battled South Korean Muay Thai champion Seo Hee Ham. In typical fashion, Fujii took her opponent to the ground and, though Ham gamely defended heel hook and rear naked choke attempts, Fujii locked in a fight-ending armbar at the 1:39 mark of round one. Fujii improves to 15-0-0 with the win and remains as the most dominant female fighter on the planet.
In the other 115-pound semi-final bout, Brazil's Ana Michelle Tavares scored a clear-cut victory over Seattle, Washington standout Lisa Ward. Tavares controlled the fight throughout, using superior skills in the clinch and takedowns to keep Ward at bay. Though Ward did score a couple of takedowns of her own, Tavares quickly reversed them and took the dominant position. In the end, Tavares came away with a Unanimous Decision victory and improves to 7-2-0 with the win.
In a semi-final bout in the open-weight side of the tournament, former SmackGIRL 128-pound champion Hitomi Akano came from behind to submit ex-dominatrix Hiroko, in an all-Japan battle. Hiroko, who had won four straight fights since hanging up her whips for a pair of mixed martial arts gloves, suffered her first loss, though she soundly dominated Akano for much of the fight. She held a tremendous height and reach advantage, and battered Akano with punches to the head and body, but Akano perservered and finally locked on an armbar that Hiroko could not escape from, forcing Hiroko to submit at the 3:10 mark of round two. Akano improves to 13-5-0 with the win.
The other open-weight semi-final saw Josh Barnett prodigy Ginele Marquez use Japan's Atsuko "Bullfight Sora" Emoto as a punching bag on her way to an easy-to-call decision victory. Marquez dominated the striking exchanges and took Emoto down repeatedly. Late in the second round, Marquez used a beautiful front suplex to take Emoto down; no doubt a trick learned from Barnett. The judges had an easy decision to make and rightfully awarded Marquez with the Unanimous Decision victory. She improves to 6-7-1.
Undercard Fights:
"Windy" Tomomi Sunaba defeated Azuma by KO (Punches) at 2:08 of round two. She improves to 11-8-0.Rin Nakai defeated Kanako Takeshita by Split Decision. She improves to 4-0-0.
Mika Nagano defeated Asami Kodera by Split Decision. She improves to 1-1-0.
Miki Morifuji defeated Benkei by Split Decision. She improves to 6-4-0.
Megu defeated Hitomi Sakamoto by Unanimous Decision. She improves to 2-0-0.
True to its tradition, SmackGIRL once again showed why it is the top female mixed martial arts promotion today, with another solid event as their World ReMix Tournament continues. The finals will take place on July 24th.
