Rizin FF and Deep Jewels champion Seika Izawa earned her fifth stoppage victory in tonight’s 49kg super atomweight main event at Deep Jewels 41 in Tokyo, Japan. The undefeated Izawa submitted a returning Suwanan “Amp The Rocket” Boonsorn with a slick triangle choke in the first round.

In the co-main event, Jeong Eun “Little Wolf” Park prevailed in her return to Deep Jewels. Park stopped teen standout Moeri Suda with punches late in the first round of their 49kg matchup. At strawweight, unbeaten rising star Machi Fukuda finished You Jeong Kim with a first-round hammerlock.

Izawa (10-0-0) put on a submission clinic in her headlining bout against Boonsorn (5-4-0) tonight. After knocking Boonsorn off-balance with a leg kick, Izawa immediately jumped into a flying guillotine choke that she used to pull Boonsorn down to the mat. Boonsorn freed her neck and then stood up to avoid an Izawa armbar attempt. She tried to drop down into Izawa’s guard, but Izawa used the opportunity to trap her in another guillotine choke.

Boonsorn continued to defend well, so Izawa transitioned to an armbar and then to a reverse triangle armbar. Still, she could not get Boonsorn to submit, so Izawa rolled over to her back and trapped Boonsorn in a tight triangle choke. With no way to escape, Boonsorn tapped out at the 3:31 mark.

Izawa, who was added to this card after a planned Rizin FF bout against Miyuu Yamamoto fell through, credited time away and improvements made in training for her excellent performance tonight.

“It’s been half a year since my last fight and I can confirm that I have improved,” Izawa said backstage following her win. “[Boonsorn] tried to deal with my grappling, so the fight went like that. She is tough, and my submissions nearly finished her, but she survived. I chain grappled, just as I had trained. I will fight anyone, anywhere, with an aim to finish by knockout or submission. I want to fight at July’s big Rizin event. Prospects [in Deep Jewels] need to mature. After they have, I will carefully watch them.”

A victorious Seika Izawa and husband Kosuke “Coro” Terashima.

Park (9-7-1) last fought for Deep Jewels in October 2019, and she made a big statement in her return to the promotion against Suda (8-5-0) tonight. After an early timeout due to an accidental clash of heads, Suda pulled guard and she tried to set up an inside shoulder lock on Park’s left arm. Park wisely stood up and she succeeded in keeping the fight on the feet.

Suda picked up the pace and finished a punching combination with a body kick. She then landed a head kick immediately after that and backed Park up with more punches. That momentum was short-lived, however, as Park landed a crushing right hook that dropped Suda to the mat. Park followed up with punches on the ground as Suda covered up and the fight was stopped at the 4:27 mark.

With tonight’s stoppage victory, Park has won five of her past six fights and all have ended in finishes. Her lone defeat came via a controversial Split Decision in a Road FC atomweight title rematch against Yu Ri Shim in September 2021.

“I’m really glad that I could come back to Japan,” Park stated in the cage. “Moeri is really good at co-ordinating distance, and I could not adjust at first. She is strong. Please support me and Moeri.”

Fukuda (3-0-0) showed why she is one of the brightest prospects on the Deep Jewels roster with her quick and efficient finish of Kim (1-1-0) in their featured bout. Fukuda countered two left hooks from Kim by taking her down in the opening seconds. She landed forearm strikes and used a keylock attempt to set up a pass to mount. Fukuda maintained her grip on the keylock, but Kim refused to submit. When Kim rolled to her right and gave up her back, Fukuda switched to a hammerlock. Kim’s arm was bent at an awkward angle behind her back and veteran referee Masato Fukuda (no relation) stepped in to stop the fight at the 2:24 mark.

Rounding out the main card action, popular fan favourite Kate “Lotus” Oyama (4-5-0) took a clear-cut Unanimous Decision victory over Saki Kitamura (0-1-0) in a 49kg super atomweight matchup. Oyama dominated the opening round on the ground from mount and back control, and she kept Kitamura trapped in a prolonged body triangle that prevented her from getting back to her feet. Kitamura had early success with knees in round two, but Oyama later took her down and punched from the top. Kitamura tried for a late triangle choke, but it was not successful and Oyama closed out the fight with some hard ground and pound. All three judges scored the bout 20-18 in favour of Oyama.

Deep Jewels 41 fighters following the event.

Prior to the main card, a farewell sendoff was held for Deep Jewels fighter Shoko Fujita.

“I did Kyokushin karate from age five, but I felt tired and retired at 26,” Fujita said during her speech. “I came back at age 29, but I have regrets because it was too hard. After my last fight, many supportive people met me and encouraged me. I refused a retirement ceremony because I don’t have a big name, but I am thankful to be able to leave a message here.”

In preliminary card action, Mizuki Furuse (10-10-0) got back on the winning track with a Unanimous Decision victory over Akari Kamise (1-1-0) at atomweight. Furuse landed some strong punches on the ground in the opening round and avoided a Kamise armbar attempt. In round two, Furuse reversed a throw and moved from mount to side control, then threatened with a late inverted triangle choke. Scores were 20-18 across the board for Furuse, who has won three of her past four bouts.

Following a 5-0 run as an amateur, Yuka “Dosukoi” Okutomi (1-0-0) made a successful pro debut by defeating Mana Akagi (1-2-0) at flyweight. Both rounds were dominated by Okutomi in the clinch and on the ground. Akagi fought off submission after submission, and finally threatened with a triangle choke late in the fight, but Okutomi easily escaped and she punished Akagi with punches to the face. All three judges saw the fight 20-18 in favour of Okutomi for a Unanimous Decision win.

In an amateur 50.5kg bout, Misaki Suda (1-3-0 amateur) avenged a past loss by defeating Momoka Yoshikawa (1-8-0 amateur) via Unanimous Decision. Suda controlled an early clinch battle with knees to the body and she took Yoshikawa down on two occasions. It was more of the same in round two until Yoshikawa landed a combination that forced Suda to tie her up in a body lock. She took Yoshikawa down with a headlock throw before the bell, and all three judges scored the fight 20-18 for Suda.

Opening up the card, Yua Yokose (1-0-0 amateur) impressed in her Deep Jewels debut by defeating Miyu Tsunoda (2-3-0 amateur) in a 55kg matchup. Yokose took Tsunoda down in round one and attempted a mounted triangle choke. Tsunoda escaped and punches were exchanged on the feet. The second round was much more even in the striking exchanges, but Yokose secured a key takedown into back control before the bell. Scores were 20-18 thrice for Yokose, who took the Unanimous Decision.

“The quality of the final four fights was significantly different,” Deep boss Shigeru Saeki said backstage following the event. “[Jeong Eun] Park did not fight on the ground, which is her choice, but she is a top fighter. She lost to [Yu Ri] Shim, but she had beaten her before. I am really interested in Shim as well.

“I may want to make a super atomweight belt,” Saeki added. “The fighters all care about Rizin and challenging Seika [Izawa]. There isn’t as much talent at 47kg and 49kg. 52kg (strawweight) has it. Many ‘Breaking Down’ competitors train MMA, so we may have them here in the future. For the next ‘Deep vs Black Combat’ event, they will provide champions.”

Full play-by-play for the Deep Jewels 41 card can be found here.