Competing for the final time, Deep Jewels Featherweight Champion Yoko Higashi will put her title on the line on November 23rd at Deep Jewels 55 in Tokyo, Japan. Higashi is set to face off against quick finisher Juki Sue, who has won five of her past six fights, in the championship main event.
Deep Jewels officials announced the title bout and 13 additional fights for the card today. In the 49kg super atomweight co-main event, Moeri “Black Diamond” Suda seeks to rebound from a July setback under the Rizin banner when she battles former ONE Championship standout So Yul Kim.
Higashi (9-5-0) has held the Deep Jewels featherweight title since May 2022 when she defeated “King” Reina Miura for a second consecutive time to win the vacant belt at Deep Jewels 37. She fought once more for Deep Jewels, in a non-title bantamweight victory, before travelling abroad and competing for PFL and Invicta FC. Those outings each ended in defeats, however, and Higashi’s most recent fight came at Deep Jewels 48 when she stopped Mana Akagi in the second round of their bantamweight co-headliner. Higashi is set to retire after Deep Jewels 55 and she will make the first – and only – defence of her title on the card.
Sue (7-2-0, 1 NC) began her pro career in 2021 for Shooto, where she fought as low as strawweight, but the weight cuts proved to be too difficult even as she moved up to flyweight and a quick victory at the end of 2024 was ruled a No Contest due to Sue’s inability to make the flyweight limit. Since that time, she has competed almost exclusively as a bantamweight, with one 65kg catchweight contest as well. Sue’s bid for the Deep Jewels Bantamweight Championship ended in a second-round stoppage loss in February, but she has since rebounded with two more wins and plans to take the featherweight crown from Higashi in November.
Suda (15-8-0) has been one of Japan’s top young female fighters for several years, and has already challenged for Deep Jewels title gold once in 2022. The 22-year-old grappler holds ten submission victories including a shocking first-round upset of former Rizin champ Ayaka Hamasaki at Deep Jewels 48. Suda earned a victory for Deep in March, but her participation in Rizin’s super atomweight “invisible tournament” ended with a decision loss to Si Woo Park in July, and Suda now hopes to get back on track when she returns to Deep Jewels.
Kim (9-2-0) dropped a decision in her ONE Championship debut and then went on to amass a stellar eight-fight winning streak including five under the ONE banner. She holds notable wins over Japanese veteran Yuko Kiryu and current Atomweight Queen of Pancrase Champion Satomi Takano. Kim’s Deep Jewels debut in May ended in a Split Decision loss to Nonoka Sakamoto at strawweight. She makes the move down to super atomweight to face another tough opponent in Suda, but a victory would place Kim on Rizin’s radar and in Deep Jewels title contention.
In another featured 49kg super atomweight bout, Misaki “Iruka Umisaki” Suda (3-2-0) hopes to follow up on her victory earlier this month when she takes on Junna Tsukii (2-3-0), who moves down from strawweight. Suda opened her pro career with back-to-back wins before suffering one-sided losses in each of her next two fights, but she scored a Unanimous Decision victory at Deep Jewels 54 on September 6th. Tsukii has also encountered ups and downs in her short career so far, but she is a powerful striker and both of her wins have come via quick stoppages.
At atomweight, battle-tested 25-year-old Mizuki Furuse (11-13-0) hopes to halt the momentum of undefeated Suzu Ooi (4-0-0), who will move up from the microweight division for the November clash. Furuse was one of the most active female fighters in Japan during the first seven years of her career, and she has already faced many of the top-ranked fighters in the country. Furuse stepped in on very short notice earlier this month and was defeated by Misaki Suda at Deep Jewels 54. Ooi has quickly become one of the brightest prospects on the Deep Jewels roster, and she seemed to be on the brink of 44kg microweight title contention after winning again at Deep Jewels 54, but she will instead move up a division to take on Furuse on the final Deep Jewels card of the year.
Rounding out the professional bouts on the Deep Jewels 55 card, Misaki Horiuchi (2-1-0) looks to make it two-for-two against Yua Yokose (5-2-0) when they face off in a strawweight rematch; Mika “Arami” Arai (6-10-0) collides with Maho Tagawa (1-1-0) in a flyweight showdown; Manaka faces Yuka Shimamura in a strawweight kickboxing match; and two undefeated prospects face off when 18-year-old Rio Yamauchi (2-0-0 amateur) and Australia’s Destiny Grounds (2-0-0 amateur) turn pro and meet in a 49kg super atomweight bout.
In amateur MMA bouts, Mina Muramatsu (3-1-0 amateur) faces Riko Igarashi (1-0-0 amateur) at strawweight; former Rizin FF ring girl Manami “Akipi” Abe (4-4-0 amateur) battles Noa Saito (0-1-0 amateur) in another strawweight matchup; Asuka Yokoe (3-2-0 amateur) meets Seari Sumimura (4-4-0 amateur) in a 50kg bout; Cocoro Taniyama (1-4-0 amateur) welcomes the debuting Domiria (0-0-0 amateur) to Deep Jewels in 49kg super atomweight action; Anouk Rossen (2-3-0 amateur) and Takara Kii (0-2-0 amateur) clash at flyweight; and the card opens with a bantamweight contest between newcomers Mia Melendez (0-0-0 amateur) and Soumeya Yousfi (0-0-0 amateur).
Deep Jewels 55 takes place on November 23rd at New Pier Hall in Tokyo, Japan.