Former Valkyrie champ “V.V” Mei Yamaguchi returns to the PXC cage for her atomweight debut on March 29th at Pacific Xtreme Combat 43 in Pasig City, Philippines. Yamaguchi is set to face off against local favourite Gina “Conviction” Iniong, who won her promotional debut at PXC 41 in November.

Yamaguchi engaged in a closely-contested three-round bout against “Little” Patricia Vidonic at PXC 40 in October, but she came out on the wrong end of a razor-thin Split Decision. She now drops down to 105 pounds to battle Iniong, who is coming off of an impressive first-round TKO triumph.

Yamaguchi (11-6-1) became an overnight star in Japan in February 2010 when she shocked MMA pioneer Yuka “Vale Tudo Queen” Tsuji with a 76-second rear-naked choke to capture the Valkyrie Featherweight Championship at 115 pounds. Following Valkyrie’s collapse, Yamaguchi picked up two wins for Pancrase before making her Jewels debut. She encountered mixed success under the Jewels banner, but concluded her time with the promotion by scoring a quick submission win this past May. She then signed on with PXC and battled back and forth with Vidonic for 15 minutes before dropping a contentious decision on the scorecards.

Iniong (2-1-0) takes a big step up in competition to face the much more experienced Yamaguchi in her fourth MMA fight, but the Filipina fighter showed marked improvement in her overall game when she returned to MMA in November following a three-year hiatus. Facing off against French opponent Nathalie “Mystique” Heidel at PXC 41, Iniong dropped Heidel with a vicious right hook and finished her off with punches from the scarf hold position. She looks to make it two-for-two inside the PXC cage when she faces her toughest opponent to date later this month.

Pacific Xtreme Combat 43 is set to take place on March 29th at Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City, Philippines.

(Photo Credit: Jewels blog)