Two Title Fights Set For Valkyrie 8 In NovemberJust two days after Valkyrie 7, Greatest Common Multiple has already announced a pair of title fights for its next all-female card at Valkyrie 8 on November 28th. Valkyrie Featherweight (115-Pound) Champion Mei “V Hajime” Yamaguchi will defend her title in a rematch with top contender Kyoko Takabayashi. Yamaguchi edged Takabayashi last July.

Also announced for the card was the final of the Valkyrie Open-Weight Grand Prix. Unbeaten prospect Rin Nakai will rematch Mizuho Sato to determine the first Valkyrie Open-Weight Champion.

Yamaguchi (6-2-0) captured the title with a shocking upset of women’s MMA pioneer Yuka “Vale Tudo Queen” Tsuji in February, but she has not competed in a mixed martial arts bout since then. She has spent time in shootboxing, however, and recently advanced to the semi-finals of the 2010 Shoot Boxing Girls S-Cup before dropping a decision to Ai Takahashi. Yamaguchi’s striking has improved in leaps and bounds and her submission game remains top-notch. She narrowly defeated Takabayashi by Split Decision on July 12, 2009 and will look to make the first defence of her title in the rematch.

Takabayashi (11-4-0) won eight of her first nine fights and totalled wins over notables such as Ayumi “Edge” Saito and current Jewels contender Saori “Shooting Star” Ishioka. However, she took a big step up in competition in late 2007 and suffered losses to pound-for-pound queen Megumi “Mega Megu” Fujii, Ana Michelle Tavares and Yamaguchi in a close bout. She has since won two straight fights and earned her title shot with a Majority Decision win over Emi Fujino at Valkyrie 5. Takabayashi has been finished just one time in her career and gave Yamaguchi all she could handle last July.

 

Nakai (8-0-0) and Sato (6-4-0) advanced to the finals of the inaugural Valkyrie Open-Weight Grand Prix with victories this past weekend at Valkyrie 7. Nakai submitted Mayumi “Super Benkei” Aoki in the first round, while Sato earned a one-sided Unanimous Decision in her bout with Michiko Takeda. Nakai has continued to put on muscle and weighed in at 144.5 pounds on Sunday; 20 pounds heavier than her previous fighting weight at 125. She will enter the rematch with Sato as a heavy favourite and submitted Sato with a first-round Kimura when the two first fought on February 11th of this year.

Valkyrie 8 takes place on November 28th at Differ Ariake in Tokyo, Japan.

 

 

(Photo Credit: gbring.com)