Kyoko Kimura Upsets Megumi Yabushita In Pancrase DebutPro wrestling veteran Kyoko Kimura scored a significant upset in her mixed martial arts debut tonight at Pancrase Impressive Tour 11 in Tokyo, Japan. Kimura defeated judoka and MMA pioneer Megumi Yabushita by TKO after the ringside doctor intervened and stopped the bout following round one.

Kimura, who initiated a challenge to Yabushita for the fight, dominated much of the opening round from back control while using strikes to set up choke attempts. Yabushita made it to the bell, but she was unable to continue due to a foot injury and the bout was stopped, giving Kimura a big victory.

 

Kimura (1-0-0) and Yabushita (19-19-0) traded strikes early in the bout, which was the lone women’s matchup on the card. Yabushita looked to take the fight to the mat, but Kimura countered and took back control once the fight reached the ground. She landed punches and hammerfists while trying to set up a rear-naked choke and continued to dominate the round while keeping Yabushita pinned down.

At the end of the opening round, Yabushita was unable to stand. The ringside doctor called off the fight due to what was believed to be a broken left ankle and possible ligament damage. Kimura was awarded the technical knockout victory and stated after the fight that her win was not a fluke and that she would be back in the Pancrase ring soon.

Winner: Kyoko Kimura by TKO (Doctor Stoppage – Ankle Injury) at 5:00 of round one. She improves to 1-0-0 with the win.

 

 

(Photo Credit: GBRing.com)