Jewels stars Mika “Future Princess” Nagano and Rina Tomita will face off in a featured 52kg bout on December 15th at Jewels: “22nd Ring” in Tokyo, Japan. The trilogy fight was officially announced by the promotion today and will serve as Tomita’s retirement bout after a four-year career in MMA.
Also on the card, fast-rising prospect Satomi Takano faces her toughest test to date when she battles former Valkyrie champion Yasuko “Ikuko” Tamada. The December Jewels event will be contested inside a cage for the first time in the promotion’s history and also features the retirement of Naoko Omuro.
Both Nagano (10-8-0) and Tomita (3-7-0) travelled to Australia to take part in separate bouts on the all-female Brace For War 17 card this past month, but the Japanese veterans suffered quick losses in their respective fights. Nagano has struggled over the past two years, but she had won two straight prior to her loss to Australia’s top female fighter, Alexandra Chambers, on the Brace For War card. Nagano has a considerable amount of work ahead of her if she is to return to Jewels title contention, but she will enter as a heavy favourite against Tomita, whom Nagano submitted twice in succession in 2009. Tomita snapped a five-fight losing skid with back-to-back submission victories, but she has lost each of her past two fights and is now set to compete one final time next month.
Takano (2-0-0), a product of the respected Club Barbarian gym that produced final DEEP Women’s Lightweight Champion Miku “Supernova” Matsumoto, is currently one of the top prospects in Jewels. After winning her amateur debut in March, Takano has since racked up decision victories over veteran opponents Yukiko Seki and “Happy” Fukuko Hamada as she takes progressive steps up in competition. She now faces her toughest opponent to date, Tamada (13-8-3), who was the first and only Valkyrie Flyweight Champion and most recently picked up a dominant submission win in July. The victory got Tamada back on track after a tough losing streak and she remains one of the top contenders in the Jewels featherweight (48kg) division.
In other action announced for the card, Naomi Taniyama (1-0-0 amateur) is set to make her pro debut against grappling specialist Mina Kurobe (0-0-0), who earned a quick submission win in a grappling match at “21st Ring” in September. Taniyama made a successful amateur debut by submitting Nana “Chanchin” Ichikawa in just 89 seconds at “20th Ring” in July.
Former Smackgirl and Valkyrie title contender Naoko Omuro (13-9-4) will face an opponent to be determined on the “22nd Ring” card. The bout will be an exhibition retirement match as Omuro prepares to step away from MMA following a career that spans close to 11 years.
Jewels: “22nd Ring” takes place on December 15th at Differ Ariake in Tokyo, Japan.
(Photo Credit: Jewels blog)