Seika Izawa vs Kanna Asakura Announced For Rizin FF 48 In SeptemberRizin FF and two-division Deep Jewels champ Seika Izawa next competes on September 29th at Rizin Fighting Federation 48 in Saitama, Japan. Izawa is set to face 2017 Rizin Grand Prix Champion Kanna Asakura in a non-title bout, which will serve as the 26-year-old Asakura’s retirement fight.

Officials announced the matchup during “Super Rizin 3” earlier today. The undefeated Izawa faced another retiring opponent, Miyuu Yamamoto, on New Year’s Eve before most recently winning the Deep Jewels atomweight title. Asakura last fought in April 2023 when she defeated Mei Yamaguchi.

Read More…

Rena Kubota Stops Kate Oyama At "Super Rizin 3," Eyes Title ShotRena Kubota overcame some early adversity and made her case for a future title shot with a punishing second-round TKO win tonight at Rizin Fighting Federation: “Super Rizin 3” in Saitama, Japan. Kubota stopped Deep Jewels prospect Kate “Lotus” Oyama in women’s super atomweight action.

Tonight’s victory was Kubota’s third in her past four fights for Rizin, where she has been a top star for close to nine years despite never holding the promotion’s women’s title. She hopes to get a shot at the 108-pound belt, which is currently held by champion Seika Izawa, sometime later this year.

Read More…

Shizuka Sugiyama Chokes Out Honoka Shigeta At Pancrase 346After competing for more than 15 years, veteran bantamweight and flyweight contender Shizuka Sugiyama at last captured her first major MMA title tonight at Pancrase 346 in Tachikawa, Tokyo, Japan. Sugiyama choked out Honoka Shigeta in the first round to become Flyweight Queen of Pancrase.

Tonight’s championship victory is the culmination of a long MMA journey for Sugiyama, who made her debut at the inaugural Jewels event in November 2008 and later went on to challenge for Deep Jewels titles at both 125 and 135 pounds. She used a ninja choke to take Shigeta’s belt in the brief fight.

Read More…

Machi Fukuda vs Morgane Manfredi, More Bouts Set For Deep Jewels 46Recent interim strawweight title challenger Machi Fukuda hopes to rebound after back-to-back razor-thin decision defeats when she next competes on September 8th at Deep Jewels 46 in Tokyo, Japan. Fukuda meets France’s Morgane “Souris” Manfredi in one of 11 bouts announced for the card.

In a 49kg super atomweight bout, Namiko “Hime” Kawabata clashes with fellow striker Saki Kitamura. Former Deep Jewels Microweight Champion Aya Murakami takes on Yuko Kiryu at atomweight, and Momoko Yamazaki battles teen prospect Mahina China in a featured microweight matchup.

Read More…

Haruka Hasegawa vs Emi Fujino Title Bout Announced For Pancrase 347Strawweight Queen of Pancrase Champion Haruka “Salt” Hasegawa will make her first title defence on September 29th at Pancrase 347 in Tokyo, Japan. Hasegawa is set to face off against former Pancrase champion and current Shooto titleholder Emi “Kamikaze Angel” Fujino on the card.

Pancrase officials announced the title fight this week along with two more women’s matchups so far. Newly-crowned Atomweight Queen of Pancrase Champion Satomi “Sarami” Takano faces Yerin “Ghost” Hong in non-title action, and former flyweight champ Takayo Hashi meets Fumika Watanabe.

Read More…