Rebounding from her first Rizin defeat in November, Deep and Deep Jewels Microweight Champion Saori “Little Giant” Oshima picked up a hard-fought and crucial victory tonight at Rizin Fighting Federation 52 in Tokyo, Japan. Oshima outpointed Keito “Kate Lotus” Oyama in super atomweight action.
Also on tonight’s Rizin FF 52 card, 17-year-old prospect Noeru “Noel” Narita earned her second straight win for the promotion by quickly submitting South Korean foe Bo Mi Lee in their super atomweight matchup that opened the event. Narita trapped Lee in a slick guillotine choke for the tapout victory.
Oshima (16-7-0) secured a body lock one minute into the fight and she took Oyama (9-8-0) down against the base of a corner post. She punched from the top until Oyama looked to set up an armbar. Oshima landed a few more punches and an elbow before Oyama countered with an upkick to her face. Oshima took Oyama down in a corner once again in round two, and this time she worked for a kimura on Oyama’s left arm. Oshima switched to a unique keylock variant while putting herself in a twister position, then let that go in favour of a top-side guillotine choke.
Early in the final round, Oshima scored a takedown in the corner, but this time Oyama countered with elbows and got back to her feet. She kneed Oshima’s body until Oshima tripped her. Oyama landed more elbows from the bottom and prevented Oshima from passing. Oyama almost secured a gogoplata, but Oshima got her hand in to stop Oyama from applying the choke. Oyama tried once more to get it and then threw more elbows before time expired.
Under Rizin’s new scoring system, bouts are judged by round and will only employ the previous scoring criteria to determine a winner if the fight is ruled a Draw. That was not needed here, as all three judges scored the bout 29-28 in favour of Oshima for a Unanimous Decision victory thanks to her grappling dominance during the first two rounds.
“I was disappointed that I could not get a finish, but [Oyama] had prepared for me well,” Oshima said backstage following her victory. “I had imagined that I could be more offensive with my grappling, but I could not because she defended well. I still want a [Rizin] title, but I need to fight more strong opponents before that.”
“I could not do what I had wanted to and I lost completely,” a dejected Oyama said. “I had had a four-fight winning streak, but I understand that I need to rebuild now.”
A victorious Saori Oshima (left) and Noeru “Noel” Narita (right) following Rizin FF 52.
Following a clinch against the ropes, Narita (4-2-0) attempted a body-lock takedown, but Lee (3-2-0) reversed it and wound up on top in the scarf hold position. Narita scrambled out from the bottom and pulled guard with a guillotine choke. Lee held on for more than 20 seconds before tapping out at the 2:07 mark, giving the young Japanese grappling prodigy another impressive win.
“While some [fans] have been critical and saying that women’s bouts mean it’s time for a restroom break, I’m glad tonight because I got a strong finish,” Narita said backstage. “I felt like I was losing my mind because I was so excited. I wasn’t sure that I could execute that submission, but I could feel Lee’s breath and that made me think that I could get it. I feel like I can fight Kate [Keito Oyama] since she could not finish Lee and I did, but right now I need to study because I’m still a high school student.”
“[Narita] is good on the ground,” Lee said when reflecting on the fight. “I needed to be quicker in order to get out of the submission, but I was too slow. I must focus more on training.”