Former Jewels postergirl Saori “Shooting Star” Ishioka returns to the ring for a special appearance at Deep Jewels 3 on February 16th in Tokyo, Japan. The popular karateka is scheduled to face off against ex-Jewels rival Mika “Future Princess” Nagano in Nagano’s retirement exhibition match.

Deep Jewels officials announced plans for the exhibition bout today. Ishioka has taken an extended hiatus from competition in order to focus on family life and last fought in March 2012 when she submitted “Windy” Tomomi Sunaba. She defeated Nagano on the inaugural Jewels card in late 2008.

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Japanese star Mika “Future Princess” Nagano has confirmed plans for her retirement from mixed martial arts in early 2014. Nagano is the latest in a string of recent retirees and she will compete in a final exhibition match at Deep Jewels 3 on February 16th in Tokyo. The news was announced today.

Deep Jewels producer Yasuko “Pink Spider” Mogi also retired from active competition today, and she has stepped down as the matchmaker for the all-female promotion. In two new bouts added to Deep Jewels 3, Shizuka Sugiyama faces Mizuho Sato and Sachiko Fujimori takes on Shiori Hori.

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On Monday night, three-time Shoot Boxing Girls S-Cup Champion Rena Kubota picked up her eighth straight win at Shoot Boxing 2013: “Tomohiro Oikawa Retirement Event” in Osaka, Japan. Kubota stopped short-notice replacement opponent Yuri Kim in the late stages of the opening round.

Elsewhere on the card, Kubota’s protégé, Mio Tsumura, earned a Majority Decision win over Chihiro Kira. At ACCEL vol.26 in nearby Kobe, Hyōgo, Japan, 16-year-old ACCEL Vassilis women’s kickboxing champion Chihiro Imoto retained her title with a narrow decision victory over Haruka Hirota.

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Three-time Shoot Boxing Girls S-Cup Champion Rena Kubota picked up her seventh straight win on Saturday night at Shoot Boxing Battle Summit: “Ground Zero Tokyo 2013” in Tokyo, Japan. The 22-year-old star narrowly outpointed late replacement opponent Maylee Won. Pomas of Thailand.

In a second female fight on Saturday’s card, former Shoot Boxing Japan Women’s Flyweight Champion Ai Takahashi rebounded from a loss in this year’s Shoot Boxing Girls S-Cup 53.5kg final. Takahashi defeated veteran kickboxer Miyo Yoshida by Unanimous Decision in an action-packed bout.

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Former top Jewels star Shizuka Sugiyama looks for her fifth straight victory when she returns to action on November 24th at Deep: “Cage Impact 2013” in Tokyo, Japan. Sugiyama is set to take on South Korean kickboxer Ji Yun Kim in a featured bout on the card. Elbow strikes will be permitted.

Deep officials announced plans for the fight earlier today. Sugiyama has finished three straight opponents and she made a successful Deep debut with a 76-second TKO victory in July. Kim makes her MMA debut in next month’s fight after competing in kickboxing matches for Jewels and Deep.

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Bantamweight Queen of Pancrase Rin Nakai battled back from adversity to score the biggest win of her career tonight at Pancrase 252 in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. Nakai’s strong final round was enough to propel her to a Majority Decision win over Tara LaRosa in a non-title fight on the card.

After a close and competitive first round, LaRosa rocked Nakai with a right cross early in the second stanza and she took the round on one judge’s scorecard. Nakai secured a takedown in round three and she scored with ground and pound and submission attempts en route to a huge victory.

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The semi-finals of the inaugural Deep Jewels lightweight title tournament are set for Deep Jewels 2 on November 4th in Tokyo, Japan. During a public drawing today, it was determined that Mizuki Inoue will face Emi “Kamikaze Angel” Fujino and Mika “Future Princess” Nagano battles Emi Tomimatsu.

Both semi-final bouts are rematches from past fights. Teen sensation Inoue announced her presence in the combat sports world at age 15 in July 2010 when she upset Fujino in a kickboxing match. Nagano narrowly defeated Tomimatsu when the pair first faced off at Jewels: “23rd Ring” in March.

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Japanese star Erika Kamimura added another prestigious championship to her impressive collection on Friday night at Rise 95 in Tokyo. Kamimura defeated J-Girls champ Momi by Unanimous Decision to claim the vacant Rise Queen kickboxing title in a bloody and action-packed five-round fight.

In MMA action on Friday night at Legacy Fighting Championship 23 in San Antonio, Texas, atomweight Tessa Simpson picked up a big victory in her first fight since August 2009. Simpson handed prospect Paulina “Firefox” Granados her first career defeat via a one-sided Unanimous Decision.

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