Atomweight prospect Mizuki “Nisse” Oshiro got back in the win column with a big victory tonight at Deep Jewels 34 in Tokyo, Japan. Oshiro, who had suffered three consecutive defeats against some of the division’s top talent, rebounded by stopping veteran Mizuki Furuse in tonight’s main event.
Deep Jewels 34 was also highlighted by strong performances from two of the promotion’s brightest young stars. At flyweight, Mikiko “Mikko Nirvana” Shimizu defeated Kate “Lotus” Oyama, while 18-year-old Eru Takebayashi stayed unbeaten by dominating Tomoko Inoue in strawweight action.
Oshiro (3-4-0), who burst on to the scene as a fighter to watch when she quickly finished 44-fight veteran and former Smackgirl and Deep champion Satoko Shinashi in late 2019, endured frustrating hardships after that massive victory. She knew that an impressive performance would be necessary tonight against Furuse (7-8-0), who was making her return to action after a year-long hiatus in order to get married and have a child.
In the first round of tonight’s headliner, Oshiro found herself on the mat after two throws from Furuse, but she was able to sweep into top position and quickly attempted an armbar. Furuse defended and briefly regained top position, but Oshiro stayed active with another armbar attempt and she closed out the round with some strong ground and pound after sweeping once more.
Round two featured another early takedown from Furuse, and this time she was able to land some decent punches of her own on the ground. Undeterred, Oshiro powered out from the bottom and mounted Furuse. She rained down punches to Furuse’s face as Furuse tried unsuccessfully to buck and escape. Oshiro continued to land punches from the top until Furuse’s corner had seen enough and through in the towel at the 4:13 mark of round two, giving Oshiro a much-needed victory.
“Thank you to my family and relatives, and to the crowd and the PPV stream viewers,” Oshiro stated in the ring following her victory. “I train in Okinawa and I aim to become a world champion. Furuse had fought in Rizin, and so I think that my dream to also do so just became a little closer to reality [with this win]. Please continue to support. Thank you.”
Backstage, Oshiro further discussed her victory tonight and plans moving forward.
“I enjoyed this fight because I could finally fight how I wanted to and I got to show what I can do,” she said. “I wasn’t able to do as well against opponents with strong grappling backgrounds, but I could feel the damage that my punches were doing tonight and [Furuse’s] corner was right to throw in the towel.
“I’m bigger now,” the former microweight continued, “so I’ve become an atomweight and all of my sweeps tonight came because of my added strength. Even if I am facing larger opponents, I will fight at atomweight with more power and technique. I am doing part-time work and training right now, so I need to get more sponsors and some training here in Tokyo.”
Tonight’s flyweight co-main event began with an early Kouchi gari throw from Shimizu (3-1-0), who used it to get Oyama (1-2-0) down. Oyama tried to kick her off, but Shimizu maintained top position until she dropped back for a heel hook attempt, which allowed Oyama to counter with hammerfists to her face. Shimizu continued to hunt for a heel hook and Oyama landed more hammerfists late in the round.
Shimizu took advantage of a missed right hook from Oyama in the second round by clinching, which led to a stalemate. The fighters were separated and Shimizu took Oyama down with a Kosoto gari throw soon after. She struck with punches from Oyama’s guard and Oyama fired back punches of her own from the bottom. Shimizu’s strikes had a much greater effect, however, and she continued to land punches to Oyama’s face throughout the final minute.
Judges Toyonaga and Fukuda both scored the fight 20-18 for Shimizu. Judge Hashimoto had it even at 19-19, but his Must Decision went to Shimizu, who picked up a well-deserved Unanimous Decision.
“I did what I could, but [Oyama] was an aggressive fighter,” Shimizu sated backstage. “I feel like my leg lock was damaging, but she refused to tap. I felt [Oyama’s] madness because she was laughing while punching me from the bottom. Ayaka [Hamasaki] praised me and suggested that I come back to training on Tuesday.”
“My training partners mimicked her style well, so my preparation was not bad, but my finishing skill is not good,” Oyama reflected after the defeat. “She was exactly the fighter that I thought, and if I had a better triangle choke maybe things would have been different. I want to be recognised not just for my face, but for my fighting skills. I need to level up step by step. I didn’t feel much danger from [Shimizu’s] leg locks, but I still need more quality training.”
In a brief and one-sided best-of-three tag-team grappling match, Deep Jewels Strawweight Champion Seika Izawa and partner Hikaru Aono defeated Emi Tomimatsu and Mika Nagano 2-0 with two submissions in less than four minutes.
The first match ended in just 50 seconds, as Izawa took advantage of Nagano voluntarily going to the ground by locking on a heel hook that forced Nagano to quickly submit. In the second match, Aono scored a takedown into back control and she kept Tomimatsu down until an opportunity to tag in Izawa presented itself. Izawa tripped Tomimatsu and trapped her in an armbar, forcing Tomimatsu to tap out and ending the match at the 3:51 mark.
“I have confidence in my grappling, so I’m glad that I got the finishes, but I could have done better,” Izawa stated backstage. “I was surprised that Mika went for a leg lock, so I did one of my own. Emi also had some nice moves from the bottom. [Upcoming opponent Jeong Eun] Park is the first striker that I’ll face, but I want to show my strength as a complete MMA fighter and to dominate. I train with Ayaka [Hamasaki] now, but I hope to compete for Rizin and challenge her in the future.”
Takebayashi (2-0-0, 1 NC) maintained a kick-heavy offence in the first round of her bout with Inoue (0-2-0), who struggled to find her range with her strikes. Inoue was warned once for extending her fingers rather than maintaining a closed fist, and she received a second warning and a point deduction early in round two. She became more urgent, and tried to trap Takebayashi in an armbar after pulling guard, but Takebayashi escaped and stood up. She landed a big right hook and Inoue pulled her down once more. Late in the round, Inoue landed knees in a standing clinch and then tripped Takebayashi, which led to both women attempting heel hooks from the 50/50 position until the bell. Scores were 20-17 across the board for Takebayashi, who took the Unanimous Decision win.
Earlier on the card, Aya Murakami (2-0-0) earned a first-round submission victory over Kyoka “Chibisai” Minagawa (0-2-0) in a 44.5kg microweight bout. Murakami trapped Minagawa in a top-side crucifix after taking her down and passing to side control, and she landed several hammerfists until Minagawa powered out and stood up. Murakami took her right back down and looked to pass to side control, but instead locked on an armbar that prompted referee Akira Shibata to intervene for a technical submission stoppage at the 4:16 mark of round one.
In lightweight action, Tae “Te-a” Murayama (2-0-0) took a clear-cut Unanimous Decision win over Yuko “Pochan Z” (1-1-0). Following a prolonged exchange of leg kicks, Murayama mixed in body kicks and right hooks including three hard right hands late in the opening round. Both fighters had success with body kicks in the second stanza, but Murayama hurt Yuko with a calf kick and she narrowly missed with two Superman Punch attempts. The fight ended with Murayama landing a body kick and a right hook. Scores were 20-18 thrice for Murakami.
Tonight’s opening bout featured a 57kg amateur kickboxing match between Saki Nakamura and Miyu Yamamoto. In both rounds, Nakamura was the superior boxer and she repeatedly landed hooks while avoiding a flying knee attempt from Yamamoto. Nakamura stayed outside of Yamamoto’s range, which prevented her from landing much of anything, and scored with two body kicks late in the fight. All three judges scored the bout 20-18 for Nakamura, who impressed in victory.
“We had a smaller event today, but I feel like the new generation is rising,” Deep boss Shigeru Saeki stated following the event. “Kate [Oyama] was more competitive than imagined. [Mizuki] ‘Nisse’ [Oshiro] faced a tough opponent, but we saw that she could finally get the win. [Mizuki] Furuse had a long layoff and that could have affected the fight. Seika Izawa is too good, but [Si Woo] Park will be the first striker that she has faced and so that will be an interesting matchup. We will have another Deep Jewels event in December.
“Next year, we’re planning to have a flyweight tournament with Kate [Oyama], Shizuka [Sugiyama] and Yukari [Nabe],” Saeki added. “I also have a good flyweight prospect with an elite wrestling background. Matchmaking women’s bouts in Rizin has become more difficult due to the closed border, and I did suggest to [Rizin President Nobuyuki] Sakakibara to wait for three years, but Seika Izawa is ready.”
Full play-by-play for the Deep Jewels 34 card can be found here.
(Photo Credit: eFight)