Gladiator Women’s Flyweight Champion Chihiro Imoto is set to make the first defence of her title on April 26th at Gladiator 84 in Osaka, Japan. The 17-year-old standout kickboxer faces off against unbeaten South Korean challenger Ok Soon Park, who makes her Gladiator debut in the fight.

Imoto announced the title fight earlier this month. She captured the belt in September with a dominant Unanimous Decision victory over Miyu Irie at Gladiator 75. Her opponent on next month’s card, Park, has won all five of her professional fights and plans to leave Gladiator 84 with the title.

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Former two-division WIBA boxing champion “Lethal” Lindsay Garbatt kept her unblemished MMA record intact with a quick and emphatic win tonight at Pancrase 265 in Tokyo, Japan. The hard-hitting Canadian overwhelmed Shiori Hori with ground and pound en route to a first-round TKO victory.

The Garbatt-Hori fight was part of the second season of “Fight Xchange,” which follows the lives of Canadian fighters as they train and compete abroad in a foreign country. Garbatt easily dispatched of Hori in the brief bout and picked up an impressive win for Team Canada in the process.

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Deep Women’s Flyweight Champion “Princess” Satoko Shinashi earned another quick and easy submission win on Saturday night at Deep: “71 Impact” in Tokyo, Japan. Shinashi finished Emi Yamamoto with an armbar early in the first round of their featured 45-kilogram (99-pound) bout.

Since returning to MMA in October following a six-year retirement, Shinashi has set her sights on securing a future fight against Road FC star Ga Yeon “Deadly Beauty” Song, who defeated Yamamoto this past August. Shinashi has now racked up three straight first-round finishes in a four-month period.

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The inaugural Deep Jewels featherweight title tournament began with the quarterfinal round on Saturday afternoon at Deep Jewels 7 in Tokyo, Japan. In the main event, former Valkyrie champion “V.V” Mei Yamaguchi earned her spot in the grand prix semi-finals by destroying veteran Miyoko Kusaka.

Grappling specialist Mina Kurobe kept her unbeaten record intact with a close decision win over former Deep Jewels interim lightweight champ Emi Tomimatsu. Joining Yamaguchi and Kurobe in the next round are Satomi “Sarami” Takano and Tomo Maesawa, who each scored decision victories.

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Deep Jewels held its seventh all-female event today at Shinjuku FACE in Tokyo, Japan. The abbreviated Deep Jewels 7 fight card featured all four quarterfinal bouts in the inaugural Deep Jewels Featherweight Grand Prix, which will ultimately crown a new 48-kilogram (105.6-pound) champion.

In grand prix action, Miyoko Kusaka took on “V.V” Mei Yamaguchi, Mina Kurobe battled Emi Tomimatsu, Masako Yoshida faced Satomi “Sarami” Takano, and Yukiko Seki met Tomo Maesawa. The event also featured tag-team grappling. MMARising.com has live play-by-play for the card.

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The inaugural Deep Jewels featherweight grand prix tournament begins on February 21st at Deep Jewels 7 in Tokyo, Japan. This past weekend, a random drawing was held to determine each of the quarterfinal matchups, which feature some of the top 48kg talent on the Deep Jewels roster.

In addition to the featherweight quarterfinals, Deep Jewels 7 also features a unique tag-team grappling match. Emi “Kamikaze Angel” Fujino teams up with Sachiko Fujimori to face off against former Jewels Lightweight Queen Champion Ayaka Hamasaki and her AACC teammate Yuko “Amiba” Oya.

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Deep Women’s Flyweight Champion “Princess” Satoko Shinashi looks for her fourth straight win when she next competes at Deep: “71 Impact” on February 28th in Tokyo, Japan. The submission specialist is set to battle Emi Yamamoto in a featured 45kg bout on the event’s main card.

Deep officials announced the matchup on Wednesday. Shinashi returned to MMA in October following a six-year retirement and she has since earned back-to-back stoppage wins against overmatched opponents. She will be a significant favourite against Yamamoto, who dropped her August pro debut.

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With Deep Jewels Featherweight Champion Seo Hee Ham competing in the UFC, Deep Jewels officials have booked an eight-woman featherweight grand prix. The 48kg tournament takes place at Deep Jewels 7 on February 21st in Tokyo, Japan and features some of the promotion’s top talent.

Among those competing in the tournament is former Deep Jewels Interim Lightweight Champion Emi Tomimatsu, who drops down to 106 pounds. She joins former Valkyrie Featherweight Champion “V.V” Mei Yamaguchi as an early tournament favourite. In a reserve bout, Miyoko Kusaka faces Pan Hui.

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