Inoue vs Chan, Sugiyama vs Kim Announced For Jewels: 23rd RingFour more fights have been added to the upcoming Jewels: “23rd Ring” card on March 30th in Tokyo, Japan. Teen prodigy Mizuki Inoue looks to pick up her third straight win when she faces Mi-Jeon Chan. Jewels star Shizuka Sugiyama takes on Chan’s South Korean compatriot, Sung Eun Kim.

Inoue earned a second-round submission win at Jewels: “22nd Ring,” while Sugiyama’s planned bout against Roxanne “The Happy Warrior” Modafferi was scrapped due to a Modafferi injury. Also at “23rd Ring,” Mina Kurobe faces Tomo Maesawa and Yoshimi “Arika” Miyake battles Rena Matsuda.

Inoue (4-1-0) remains Japan’s top female prospect and the 18-year-old continues to rack up victories in MMA, kickboxing and shoot boxing competition. She became the first Shoot Boxing Girls S-Cup 53.5 Champion in August and returned to MMA at Jewels: “23rd Ring” in December, where she submitted Hyo Kyung Song with an armbar midway through round two. Inoue will enter as a favourite against Chan (1-0-0), a South Korean MMA titleholder at 54kg who returns to Jewels for the first time since losing to Kozue “Azuma” Nagashima in the kickboxing main event at Jewels: “21st Ring.” Chan most recently suffered a lopsided loss to Ai Takahashi in a shoot boxing match this past month.

Sugiyama (8-3-0) made her return to Jewels in July following a year-long trip to study and train abroad in Australia. She has won back-to-back fights since stepping back into the Jewels ring and had looked to score her biggest victory to date in December. However, her bout with Modafferi was cancelled two days prior to the event when Modafferi sustained a neck injury. Sugiyama brings a significant edge in MMA experience into the bout with Kim (0-1-0), who made an unsuccessful MMA debut in April at Pancrase Progress Tour 4. However, Kim has an extensive striking background and has held kickboxing titles in her home country, and she could pose a solid test for Sugiyama on the feet.

In a third MMA bout added to the card, Kurobe (1-0-0) takes on fellow grappler Maesawa (0-2-0). Kurobe went 1-1 in Jewels grappling matches before making her MMA debut at “22nd Ring” in December. She submitted Naomi Taniyama with a second-round rear-naked choke. Maesawa remains winless under the Jewels banner, but she put on a strong showing on the “22nd Ring” card and took Jewels title contender Kikuyo Ishikawa to a closely-contested decision.

Rounding out the additions to “23rd Ring,” Miyake takes on Matsuda in a three-round kickboxing match. Miyake makes her Jewels debut and most recently scored a Unanimous Decision win outside of the promotion in December. Matsuda is undefeated in four appearances for Jewels and won the promotion’s 52kg amateur kickboxing tournament in September. She scored a dominant 52-second TKO victory in a pro kickboxing bout at “22nd Ring” and looks to keep her unbeaten Jewels record intact.

Jewels: “23rd Ring” takes place on March 30th at Shin-Kiba 1st Ring in Tokyo, Japan.

Go Yamamoto contributed to this report.

 

Jewels: “23rd Ring” Fight Card (to date; subject to change):

– Mika “Future Princess” Nagano vs Emi Tomimatsu [52kg Jewels Special MMA Rules – 2×5]
– Naho “Sugi Rock” Sugiyama vs Celine Haga [49kg Jewels Special MMA Rules – 2×5]
– Mizuki Inoue vs Mi-Jeon Chan [53kg Jewels Special MMA Rules – 2×5]
– Shizuka Sugiyama vs Sung Eun Kim [60kg Jewels Special MMA Rules – 2×5]
– Mina Kurobe vs Tomo Maesawa [48kg Jewels Special MMA Rules – 2×5]
– Yasuko “Pink Spider” Mogi vs Takumi Umehara [56kg Jewels Official MMA Rules – 2×5]
– Yoshimi “Arika” Miyake vs Rena Matsuda [53.2kg Jewels Kickboxing Rules – 3×2]

 

 

(Photo Credit: Jewels blog)