Si Woo Park, Seika Izawa Lead Winners At Deep Jewels 31South Korean rising star Si Woo Park extended her winning streak to four with a hard-fought victory tonight at Deep Jewels 31 in Tokyo, Japan. Park overcame a point deduction tonight and placed herself in atomweight title contention by edging out Saori Oshima in the Deep Jewels 31 main event.

Elsewhere on the card, Seika Izawa kept her undefeated record intact by upsetting Deep Jewels Strawweight Champion Miki Motono in the non-title co-main event. The highly-touted Izawa’s impressive showing earned her a title rematch with Motono, which may take place at Deep Jewels 32.

 

Park (4-2-0) had to fend off an early armbar from Oshima (3-2-0) after she was taken down in the opening minute, but she reversed position and eventually got back to her feet. Oshima was relentless with her takedown attempts and Park was warned when one of her hammerfists struck the back of Oshima’s head. In round two, Oshima repeatedly tried to take Park down and had no success at all, but Park landed an illegal soccer kick as a kneeling Oshima clung to her leg. Park was docked one point for the foul and Oshima finally secured a takedown after the restart. Park quickly returned to her feet and she landed kicks and an elbow to Oshima’s body before time expired.

The third round was similar to the second, and Park once again displayed solid takedown defence as she sprawled and prevented Oshima from getting her down. Park attacked both sides of Oshima’s face with hammerfists and she reversed a takedown into top position late in the fight. The round ended with Park punching from Oshima’s guard.

Judge Matsumoto scored the fight 28-27 for Park. Judges Wada and Hashimoto saw it even at 28-28, but both awarded their Must Decisions to Park, who took a close but well-deserved Unanimous Decision victory.

“I expected that [Oshima] would want to take me down, but she tried for many more takedowns than I had expected,” Park noted backstage following her win. “I could not train much, so I could only focus on cutting weight for this fight. I want to win the [Deep Jewels] atomweight grand prix and my goal is to fight for Rizin. I will participate at the next Deep Jewels event, and so I will stay here in Japan due to the COVID-19 travel rules.”

 

Izawa (2-0-0), despite competing in just her second professional fight, shone in victory tonight as she snapped Motono’s (5-2-0) three-fight winning streak. The fight began with Izawa landing a series of body kicks and Motono responding with kicks to her opponent’s lead leg. Izawa mixed in jabs and she used a body kick to set up a double-leg takedown. Motono quickly stood up and Izawa landed knees to her thighs until the bell. The second round was very one-sided and Motono struggled to land anything on the feet. Izawa landed numerous body kicks and she stayed outside of Motono’s punching range.

Early in the final round, Izawa landed leg kicks and Motono fired back with jabs and a straight left hand. Izawa took her down, but she could not keep her there for long. On the feet, Izawa maintained a kick-heavy offence as Motono threw left hands. Izawa prevented Motono from taking her down and she landed more kicks to Motono’s body in the final minute.

Judge Fukuda scored the fight 30-27, while judges Uematsu and Matsumoto both had it 29-28. All three saw it in favour of Izawa, who notched her second Unanimous Decision win under the Deep Jewels banner in a span of just seven weeks.

“I was able to do what I had trained and I am relieved,” Izawa stated backstage after her victory tonight. “[Motono] is a tough fighter, as I had expected, and so my thoughts about her were correct. The second round was competitive, but I felt comfortable by the third round and so I was more aggressive with my kicks. I want to fight Miki again. I would eventually like to move on to the UFC, but I want to take my career one step at a time.”

 

After she was upset in her Deep Jewels amateur debut in October, Kate “Lotus” Oyama (1-0-0) entered the professional ranks tonight and picked up a one-sided stoppage win against an overmatched Marina Kumagai (0-2-0) in flyweight action. Oyama battered Kumagai with ground and pound after taking her down early in the first round. She prevented Kumagai from getting back to her feet and scored with punches from side control and then from mount. Oyama spun into an armbar late in the round and referee Masato Fukuda stepped in for a technical submission stoppage at the 4:33 mark of round one.

“I lost last time and I regret that, but I was able to fight like I tactically wanted to tonight and so I’m glad,” Oyama commented backstage. “My corner told me that it was late in the round and so I went for the armbar. I will make my body stronger with help from my personal trainer and I want to improve as a person and as a fighter. I’m not yet ready for Rizin, but I hope that people will call for me to fight there in the future. I would like to compete in March [at Deep Jewels 32].”

 

In another flyweight bout, Mikiko “Mikko Nirvana” Shimizu (2-0-0) stayed unbeaten with a Unanimous Decision victory over Mika “Arami” Arai (5-5-0). Shimizu controlled clinch battles in the corner during both rounds and she stuffed all but one of Arai’s takedown attempts. Shimizu landed hard knees in the second half of round two and took Arai down soon after. Arai attempted leg locks on the ground, to no avail, and the bout went to the scorecards. Judges Uematsu and Nagase both scored the fight 20-18 for Shimizu. Judge Fukuda had it even at 19-19, but his Must Decision went to Shimizu for the victory.

Otoha Nagao (4-3-0) employed a kick-heavy offence en route to a clear-cut Unanimous Decision victory over Mika Sakamoto (0-3-0) in a 49kg super atomweight bout. Nagao landed numerous leg and body kicks in round one while staying outside of Sakamoto’s punching range. Sakamoto was much more aggressive in the second round, and she pinned Nagao in a corner for an extended period of time, but Nagao came on strong in the final minute and she landed some nice left hooks. Judges Uematsu, Wada and Nagase all scored the fight 20-18 for Nagao, who rebounded from a September defeat.

Ayaka Watanabe (1-0-0) kicked off her pro career with a first-round TKO victory over Akari Jinno (0-1-0) at strawweight. Watanabe took Jinno down after an early exchange of strikes and she immediately went to work with hard punches from top position. Jinno briefly fought back to her feet once, but she was quickly taken down again and Watanabe easily avoided her leg lock attempts from the bottom. With mere seconds remaining in the round, Watanabe postured up with a final salvo of punches and referee Naoya Uematsu halted the fight at the 4:56 mark of round one.

In a back-and-forth atomweight bout, Moe Sasaki (2-0-0) edged out Moeri Suda (0-2-0) after two close rounds for a Unanimous Decision win. Suda got off to a good start with a front kick and a solid right cross that forced Sasaki to initiate a clinch. She got Suda down and moved from side control to mount, but Suda scrambled from the bottom and swept into top position. The fight returned to the feet with Sasaki missed with wild punches late in the round. Sasaki dropped Suda with a counter hook early in round two and she landed more power punches after allowing Suda to get back to her feet. Suda backed Sasaki into a corner and landed knees to the body, but Sasaki took her down and landed punches from Suda’s half-guard. Judges Igarashi, Wada and Uematsu each scored the fight even at 19-19, but all three awarded their Must Decisions to Sasaki.

Opening up the card tonight, Eru Takebayashi defeated Saki in a 53kg amateur bout. Takebayashi landed knees in a clinch and a trio of right hands in the opening round while fending off Saki’s takedown attempts. Saki finally got her down with a harai goshi throw and Takebayashi tied her up from the bottom. In round two, Saki landed two left hooks early on and tried for another harai goshi. Takebayashi reversed and wound up on top. She moved to mount and spun into an armbar. Referee Nagase had seen enough and called for the technical submission stoppage at the 1:16 mark of round two.

 

“Si Woo Park’s visa will run out if she does not stay here in Japan, so I will have her stay,” Deep boss Shigeru Saeki said backstage following the event. “‘Amp The Rocket’ [Suwanan Boonsorn] will be a participant in the atomweight grand prix. Kate [Oyama] won her fight and Eru Takebayashi did well. I will figure out how I can invite more foreign fighters with this current [COVID-19] situation. Miki Motono and Seika Izawa will directly rematch at Korakuen Hall in the cage.” It was announced tonight that Deep Jewels 32 will take place on March 7th at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan.

Full play-by-play for the Deep Jewels 31 card can be found here.

 

 

(Photo Credit: Deep Jewels)