Valkyrie: "Valkyrie 2" Results
by Robert Sargent
The second effort from Greatest Common Multiple's all-female Valkyrie division saw the crowning of the promotion's first champion, as Japanese phenom Yuka "Vale Tudo Queen" Tsuji defeated Kate Martinez to become the Featherweight Champion.
In other action, another Japanese star, "Windy" Tomomi Sunaba, fell short in her fight with Kyoko Takabayashi, who submitted her with a rear naked choke early in round one.
Valkyrie Featherweight Championship
Yuka "Vale Tudo Queen" Tsuji vs Kate Martinez
Tsuji, who held a massive experience edge over Martinez, recovered after getting dropped by a punch early in round one and secured a fight-ending armbar late in the round.Following an early feeling-out process, Tsuji scored with a stiff leg kick, but Martinez immediately countered with a looping punch that dropped Tsuji. Martinez dove for the finish, but Tsuji quickly recovered and scored a takedown. She moved directly to mount and rained down big punches from the top. Martinez gamely regained guard and the fight returned to the feet. Tsuji scored another takedown and moved to side-control. She transitioned to mount and landed more hard punches, then moved effortlessly into an armbar that forced Martinez to submit. With the impressive victory, Tsuji claims the promotion's first title.
Winner: Yuka Tsuji by Submission (Armbar) at 4:20 of round one. She improves to 22-1-0 and becomes the first Valkyrie Featherweight Champion.
Takayo Hashi vs Chisa Yonezawa
As in the main event, Hashi entered the fight with a large advantage in experience, and she made use of it by battering Yonezawa for much of the first round before submitting her with a rear naked choke in round two.Hashi took the fight to the ground in the opening round, where her overmatched opponent could do little but try to survive the endless onslaught of punches that Hashi threw her way. Hashi worked from Yonezawa's guard and half-guard, landing strikes at will and experiencing very little in the way of resistance.
Round two was more of the same, as Hashi once again scored a takedown and struck from the top. She moved to the mount position and landed a series of hard punches that forced Yonezawa to give up her back, and Hashi quickly secured a rear naked choke that ended the fight.
Winner: Takayo Hashi by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 1:43 of round two. She improves to 12-1-0.
Kyoko Takabayashi vs "Windy" Tomomi Sunaba
After scoring a takedown to avoid the punching power of Sunaba, Takabayashi quickly scrambled and took Sunaba's back, where she landed a series of punches until she was able to lock on a rear naked choke.Sunaba immediately rushed forward looking to land big punches to begin the fight, but Takabayashi ducked under the haymakers and scored a takedown. A scramble ensued, and Takabayashi took Sunaba's back. From there, she landed punches to the sides of Sunaba's head. Sunaba was unable to twist free to regain guard and Takabayashi continued to land punches at will. Soon after, Takabayashi managed to sneak her arm underneath the chin of Sunaba and secured a rear naked choke that forced the veteran to begrudgingly submit.
With the dominant win, Takabayashi moves on to face Megumi Yamaguchi to determine the #1 contender to Yuka Tsuji's Featherweight Championship.
Winner: Kyoko Takabayashi by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 1:41 of round one. She improves to 9-3-0.
Megumi "V Hajime" Yamaguchi vs Emi Fujino
In this rematch from their December 2007 bout in SmackGIRL, which Fujino won by Split Decision, it was Yamaguchi who came out on top, as she used a series of effective takedowns and ground strikes to earn a Unanimous Decision victory.All three rounds of this bout were similar, with Yamaguchi scoring takedowns and using extremely unorthodoxed - and often ineffective - baseball-slide tactics to take the fight to the mat. From there, she landed numerous strikes from top position. Fujino worked to get back to her feet and attempted occasional submissions, but Yamaguchi was simply too much for her and dominated the ground battles with punches from Fujino's guard. The judges all sided with Yamaguchi, giving her the win.
Yamaguchi will next face Kyoko Takabayashi to determine the first challenger to Yuka Tsuji's newly-won title. It will also provide Yamaguchi with a chance to avenge her only other career defeat.
Winner: Megumi Yamaguchi by Unanimous Decision after three rounds. She improves to 4-2-0.
Undercard Fights:
Naoko Omuro defeated Sachiko Yamamoto by TKO (Punches) at 2:48 of round one. Omuro, who has already competed against many of the best Japanese female fighters, including two bouts each with former DEEP Champions Hisae Watanabe and Satoko Shinashi, has never been stopped in her career. Omuro improves to 9-7-3 with the win.Mizuho Sato defeated Masae Mori by Technical Submission (Armbar) at 2:28 of round one. Sato took the fight to the mat and secured the submission late in round one, which prompted the referee to stop the fight to spare Mori, who was making her pro debut, from further injury. Sato improves to 4-2-0 with the win.
Though still developing, Valkyrie now prominently features two of the top 10 female fighters in the world, in Yuka Tsuji and Takayo Hashi, and will look to continue to showcase great fights in the second half of 2009.
