With the Rizin women’s super atomweight title vacated, three contender’s bouts have been announced for the upcoming Rizin Fighting Federation: “Landmark Vol. 15” event on July 18th in Hiroshima, Japan. In one, Si Woo “Korean Queen Bee” Park clashes with Moeri “Black Diamond” Suda.
Also confirmed for the event this week was a pivotal rematch between recent Rizin title challenger Saori “Little Giant” Oshima and Ye Ji Lee, who upset Oshima 13 months ago. Elsewhere on next month’s card, striker Namiko “Hime” Kawabata takes on prospect Ayane “Barbie” Hirata.
Park (13-6-0) was the #2-ranked women’s super atomweight fighter for close to two years before taking a hiatus from competition and switching up her training with Havas MMA in her native South Korea. She holds key victories over Rena Kubota, Kanna Asakura and Ayaka Hamasaki in Rizin, as well as a Deep Jewels strawweight title win over Machi Fukuda in their first meeting at Deep Jewels 45. Park is 8-2 in her past ten fights, with the lone defeats coming via Split Decisions against then-Rizin champ Seika Izawa and Fukuda in their rematch.
Suda (15-7-0) has racked up wins in five of her past six fights, and none was bigger than her shocking submission win against Ayaka Hamasaki at Deep Jewels 48. The skilled grappler also holds victories over Ye Ji Lee and Namiko Kawabata, who will both be in action earlier on the Rizin card in Hiroshima. Untimely defeats have so far kept title gold just outside of Suda’s reach, but the 21-year-old is now looking to put herself in Rizin championship contention by defeating one of her toughest opponents.
Oshima (16-7-0) has experienced big wins and crushing defeats during the past three years. The submission specialist is the reigning Deep and Deep Jewels Microweight Champion, but her fights at atomweight and super atomweight have yielded mixed results. After being upset by Ye Ji Lee at Deep: “125 Impact,” Oshima rebounded by defeating Suda for a second time in their September rematch. She then challenged unsuccessfully for the Rizin women’s super atomweight title and most recently defeated Keito “Kate Lotus” Oyama at Rizin FF 52.
Lee (7-8-0) will be seen as an underdog on this card, despite her previous victory against Oshima, but the 26-year-old has amassed four wins in her past six fights and remains a tough test for anyone in the atomweight and super atomweight divisions. In November, Lee’s bid for her biggest victory to date ended in a decision loss to Hamasaki at Deep Jewels 51, but she got back on the winning track this past month by narrowly edging out Eru Takebayashi via Split Decision in a highly competitive Deep Jewels 53 bout.
Kawabata (6-5-0) was never able to follow up on her success after defeating Oshima in a non-title Deep Jewels fight in March 2022. Moving up in weight resulted in technical submission losses to Machi Fukuda and Rin Nakai, but Kawabata has fared better more recently since dropping back down to the super atomweight division. She won back-to-back fights for Deep Jewels and then engaged in a competitive three-round bout with Suda in March, which ended with Suda taking a decision win.
Hirata (4-3-0) began her pro career as one of the breakout stars for the all-female Colors division of Shooto, where she won three of her five bouts. Seeking a new challenge, she debuted for Black Combat in South Korea in March 2025 and secured a TKO victory. The popular young prospect returned to the promotion in August, but she was defeated by former Pancrase contender Yerin “Ghost” Hong and has since focused on honing her skills while taking time away from pro MMA competition.
The Rizin FF women’s super atomweight title that was long held by champion Seika Izawa is now vacant, as Izawa has stepped away from competition in preparation for the birth of her first child. Women’s atomweight and super atomweight are largely dormant outside of Japan, but Rizin has gathered together a strong group of contenders for this event and future cards this year in hopes of establishing a new champion.
Rizin Fighting Federation: “Landmark Vol. 15” takes place on July 18th at Hiroshima Prefectural Sports Center (Green Arena) in Hiroshima, Japan.
(Photo Credit: Deep Jewels)