Japan’s all-female Jewels promotion has announced the first of many bouts for its March 3rd “18th Ring” card in Tokyo. Promotional postergirl Mika “Future Princess” Nagano looks to rebound from a contentious decision loss when she faces former Valkyrie mainstay Emi “Kamikaze Angel” Fujino.

Nagano has made 12 appearances for Jewels since its debut in late 2008 and she remains one of the organisation’s top stars, but managed just one win in three bouts this past year. Fujino has won two of her past three fights and most recently defeated Celine Haga at “17th Ring” in December.

Nagano (8-6-0) has long been regarded as one of the stronger grapplers in Jewels, but she has battled inconsistency and tough losses that have kept her just outside of title contention. In 2010, Nagano advanced to the semi-finals of the Jewels Lightweight Queen Tournament before dropping a razor-thin Split Decision to South Korea’s Seo Hee Ham. She kicked off 2011 with a victory in May, but a July rematch with pound-for-pound queen Megumi “Mega Megu” Fujii ended in defeat. At 17th Ring, Nagano battled former Valkyrie champion “V.V” Mei Yamaguchi to a hotly-contested decision. Despite appearing to have done enough to take the win, two judges disagreed and Nagano must now climb back from the first two-fight losing streak of her career.

Fujino (10-5-0) was once one of Japan’s brightest female prospects after opening her career with eight straight wins that included a 2007 victory over Yamaguchi under the Smackgirl banner. Fujino later joined the upstart Valkyrie promotion, but struggled against a mix of veterans and top-tier opponents. She ended her time in Valkyrie on a high note by dispatching of Anna Saito in just 24 seconds at the promotion’s final event in November 2010 before taking on her toughest test to date, Megumi Fujii, at the year-end SRC: “Soul of Fight” event. Despite putting up a much better fight than some anticipated, Fujino came up short on the scorecards after three rounds. She then took a year off from MMA and made the transition to Jewels in December with a convincing victory over Haga.

Both Nagano and Fujino are now at pivotal points in their respective careers, as each looks to put past defeats behind in order to earn a shot at the Jewels Lightweight Queen Championship held by Ayaka Hamasaki. The loser of the March bout could see her title hopes dashed for good.

Jewels: “18th Ring” takes place on March 3rd at Shin-Kiba 1st Ring in Tokyo, Japan.

(Photo Credit: Jewels)