Long-time pound-for-pound queen Megumi “Mega Megu” Fujii will return to Jewels on July 9th when she faces promotional star Mika “Future Princess” Nagano for the second time. The featured bout will be part of a stacked Jewels: “15th Ring” card at Shinjuku FACE in Tokyo, Japan.

Also announced for the event was a matchup between former Valkyrie title challenger Kyoko Takabayashi and Norway’s Celine Haga. Meanwhile, last year’s Jewels 48kg Rough Stone Grand Prix Champion Kikuyo Ishikawa will face off with former DEEP contender Sachiko “Sachi” Yamamoto.

Fujii (23-1-0) rebounded from her controversial first defeat in October by outlasting Emi Fujino at SRC: “Soul of Fight” on December 30th in Japan. Prior to that, she had advanced to the finals of the inaugural Bellator 115-pound women’s tournament, but suffered a razor-thin Split Decision loss to reigning champ Zoila Gurgel; a decision that many observers felt should have gone Fujii’s way. With 18 submission wins to her credit, including a December 2007 triangle choke against Nagano in the pair’s first meeting, Fujii remains one of the most gifted female submission artists in MMA.

Nagano (8-4-0) has faced ups and downs since dropping her pro debut to Fujii. The grappler possesses solid wrestling skills and decent submissions, but she will once again be at a significant disadvantage in the jiu-jitsu department when she takes on Fujii for the second time. Nagano put together five straight wins in Jewels from May 2009 to May 2010, but has gone 2-2 since then including a shocking upset loss to Celine Haga; a result that Nagano avenged in her next fight. She most recently submitted AACC prospect Emi Murata in May.

Fujii has her eyes set on a rematch with Bellator champion Zoila Gurgel in the near future, and will look to create momentum by defeating Nagano for the second time in advance of a targeted return to action for Bellator in the Fall.

Takabayashi (11-4-1) joined the upstart Valkyrie promotion following Smackgirl’s demise in 2008 and lost just once inside the Valkyrie cage. That defeat came in a close Split Decision with Yamaguchi when the two first faced off on July 12, 2009. After a pair of victories, Takabayashi earned a rematch against Yamaguchi for the Valkyrie Featherweight Championship, but was forced to settle for a Majority Draw when two judges ruled the bout even. The dissenting judge scored the fight in favour of Takabayashi, who appeared to have done enough to take the title. She will now make her Jewels debut.

Haga (1-7-0) has struggled thus far in her career, with just one win in eight bouts. The victory was a big one, however, as she upset Nagano at Jewels: “Eighth Ring” last May. Haga was unable to follow up on the momentum and lost to Nagano in a brief rematch two months later. Since then, she has dropped fights to Jewels postergirl Saori “Shooting Star” Ishioka and Simona Soukupova in a matchup outside of Jewels. Now riding a three-fight losing streak, Haga will have another very tough test in July when she takes on a former top contender from Valkyrie.

Ishikawa (4-2-0) will be making her first appearance in Jewels since winning the promotion’s Rough Stone Grand Prix at 48 kilograms last year with a razor-thin Split Decision victory over Yukiko Seki. The submission specialist won two of her three fights in 2010, with the lone defeat coming in another close two-round decision against Miyoko Kusaka in March. All but one of Ishikawa’s wins to date have come by way of submission, but she will face a much more experienced opponent in Yamamoto, who is also very skilled on the ground.

Yamamoto (8-4-1) won four of her first six pro fights and debuted for DEEP as a significant underdog against future champion “Princess” Satoko Shinashi at DEEP: “32 Impact.” Yamamoto would suffer a first-round submission defeat, but entered the promotion’s one-night flyweight tournament four months later. Advancing to the finals, Yamamoto once again fell short against Shinashi, who became DEEP Women’s Flyweight Champion. Yamamoto has won three of her four fights since, including her Jewels return in May, and has submitted four opponents to date.

Lastly, a fourth mixed martial arts bout between Miyoko Kusaka (2-3-0) and Yuka Okumura (1-7-0) was also announced for the card. Both fighters are coming off of losses in their most recent bouts and will be looking to get back on the winning track. Kusaka went 2-1 in 2010 and picked up a big win over Kikuyo Ishikawa, while Okumura made her return to action in May after close to four years away.

Both the Fujii-Nagano and Takabayashi-Haga matchups will be contested at 52 kilograms, though only Takabayashi and Haga will be competing under Jewels Special Rules that permit strikes to the face on the ground. Fujii and Nagano will face off under Jewels Official Rules. The Ishikawa-Yamamoto and Kusaka-Okumura bouts will be contested at 48 kilograms using Jewels Official Rules.

Kickboxing bouts between Miku Hayashi and Anna Saito, and Chikako WSR and Hanako Nakamori will round out the card.

Jewels: “15th Ring” takes place on July 9th at Shinjuku FACE in Tokyo, Japan.

Jewels: “15th Ring” Fight Card (to date; subject to change):

– Saori “Shooting Star” Ishioka vs Yuka “Vale Tudo Queen” Tsuji [52kg ‘Jewels vs Valkyrie’ Jewels Special MMA Rules]
– Megumi “Mega Megu” Fujii vs Mika “Future Princess” Nagano [52kg Jewels Official MMA Rules]
– Seo Hee Ham vs “V.V” Mei Yamaguchi [52kg ‘Jewels vs Valkyrie’ Jewels Special MMA Rules]
– Hitomi “Girlfight Monster” Akano vs Roxanne “The Happy Warrior” Modafferi [61kg Jewels Special MMA Rules]
– Hiroko Yamanaka vs Bolormaa “Esui” Erdenebileg [65kg Jewels Special MMA Rules]
– Celine Haga vs Kyoko Takabayashi [52kg ‘Jewels vs Valkyrie’ Jewels Special MMA Rules]
– Kikuyo Ishikawa vs Sachiko “Sachi” Yamamoto [48kg ‘Jewels vs Valkyrie’ Jewels Official Rules]
– Miyoko Kusaka vs Yuka Okumura [48kg Jewels Official Rules]
– Miku Hayashi vs Anna Saito [53.52kg Kickboxing Rules]
– Chikako WSR vs Hanako Nakamori [60kg Kickboxing Rules]