Two-division Deep Jewels champ Seika Izawa has vacated her strawweight title and an undisputed championship bout has been booked to headline Deep Jewels 50 on September 7th in Tokyo, Japan. Si Woo Park has been elevated from interim to full champion and faces Machi Fukuda in a rematch.
Deep Jewels officials announced the championship status change and a total of 13 bouts for the Deep Jewels 50 card on Friday. In addition to the Park-Fukuda championship rematch, the milestone card will be co-headlined by a 50kg bout between Emi Tomimatsu and Keito “Kate Lotus” Oyama.
Park (12-5-0) captured the vacant Deep Jewels Interim Strawweight Championship in her most recent fight at Deep Jewels 45 in May 2024 when she narrowly edged out Fukuda in the night’s main event. Park has since left Japan and returned home to South Korea, where she joined the Havas MMA team. The 34-year-old’s lone defeats during the past four years both came via close decisions against Izawa, in Deep Jewels and Rizin, respectively, and she has won seven fights during that time including a key victory against Ayaka Hamasaki and the title triumph against Fukuda in their first meeting. Now the full Deep Jewels champion, Park looks to erase any doubt when she takes on Fukuda again.
Fukuda (8-2-0) has been very active since losing to Park and has won all four of her bouts including two this year for Rizin. She first defeated Shooto Infinity League winner Seo Young Park at Rizin FF 50 in March and then scored a Unanimous Decision win against Pancrase champ Haruka “Salt” Hasegawa at “Landmark Vol. 11” this past month. At just 22 years of age, Fukuda is continuing to develop her skills at a fast rate, and that has been evident during her recent performances. She will need to make use of those improvements when challenging Park in September as she hopes to avenge one of only two defeats on her professional record.
Tomimatsu (16-20-0), a one-time Deep Jewels Interim Strawweight Champion herself, returns to action after earning a Split Decision win in April 2024 following a lengthy break from MMA competition. That victory halted a six-fight losing skid for Tomimatsu, with all of those defeats coming against quality opponents, but she is still in need of at least one big win in order to get back into the strawweight title hunt for what may be the final time.
Oyama (7-7-0) has scored wins in three of her past four fights, falling only to Rizin FF star Rena Kubota during that time. The highly popular fighter scored her biggest victory to date in May when she defeated former Road FC champion Yu Ri Shim at a Rizin FF event in South Korea. She will move up slightly in weight from 49kg to 50kg in order to battle Tomimatsu in September, and a victory would continue Oyama’s recent run of success.
Elsewhere on the card, the 49kg super atomweight division will be featured prominently in two bouts. Saki Kitamura (4-4-0) aims for her first two-fight winning streak when she takes on the unbeaten Misaki “Iruka Umisaki” Suda (2-0-0) in featured action. Both women are coming off of decision wins over Princess Saaya earlier this year. Kitamura has struggled with consistency, but she is one of the top strikers on the Deep Jewels roster. Suda has made huge improvements since turning pro and aims to stay undefeated in September.
Also at 49kg, long-time veteran contender Yuko Kiryu (13-13-0) seeks to get back on the winning track when she meets Sarah (1-1-0), who notched her first pro victory in November. Kiryu once held a five-fight winning streak that included triumphs over Sadae “Manhoef” Numata and Emi Tomimatsu, but recent fights have not yielded positive results. Sarah transitioned to the pro ranks in September following multiple Deep Jewels bouts as an amateur, and she now hopes to upset the much more experienced Kiryu.
In other action, Junna Tsukii (1-1-0) hopes to rebound from her first pro loss in November when she takes on the aforementioned Princess Saaya (1-3-0) in a 50kg bout. Nonoka Sakamoto (1-0-0, 1 NC), who would be undefeated at 2-0 if not for missing weight in April, moves up to strawweight to face Misaki Horiuchi (1-0-0 amateur), who makes her pro debut after scoring a commanding win in an amateur bout at Deep Jewels 49. In the lone kickboxing bout on the card, Saki Nakamura battles Manaka at 50kg.
Rounding out the announced bouts, Hitomi Taniyama (1-3-0) faces Yuko “Pochan Z” Matsuura (0-8-0) at featherweight; Kimika “Jaka” Kawaguchi (2-2-0) welcomes prospect Suzu Ooi (2-1-0 amateur) to the professional ranks in a 44kg microweight bout; former Rizin FF ring girl Akipi (1-2-0 amateur) meets Marin Yamabuki (1-0-0 amateur) in amateur strawweight action; Serina Wada (0-1-0 amateur) squares off against Asuka Yokoe (0-1-0) in a 49kg amateur bout; Yuna Suyama (0-1-0 amateur) clashes with debuting amateur Chanrina (0-0-0) at 51kg; and Mion Wachi (0-1-0 amateur) takes on Kokoro Taniyama (0-0-0) in an amateur strawweight fight.
Deep Jewels 50 takes place on September 7th at New Pier Hall in Tokyo, Japan.
(Photo Credit: Deep Jewels)