All main card fighters successfully made weight earlier today for Saturday’s Jewels: “17th Ring” card in Tokyo, Japan. The event features a Jewels Lightweight Queen Championship rematch between Ayaka Hamasaki and Seo Hee Ham, which will be contested over three, five-minute rounds.
A second champion will also be determined when the Jewels Featherweight Queen Grand Prix concludes on the card. Unbeaten prospect Naho “Sugi Rock” Sugiyama faces rising star Kikuyo Ishikawa in one semi-final, while Misaki Takimoto clashes with fellow veteran Yukiko Seki in the other.
Hamasaki (5-0-0) and Ham (9-4-0) weighed in at 51.7kg and 51.6kg, respectively, for their 52 kilogram lightweight title tilt tomorrow. Hamasaki edged out Ham in the finals of last year’s Jewels Lightweight Queen Grand Prix to become the promotion’s first champion and now makes her first title defence.
Featherweight Queen GP participants Sugiyama (5-0-0), Ishikawa (6-2-0), Takimoto (14-12-4) and Seki (10-20-0) had no trouble in making the 48 kilogram limit for their tournament bouts. Sugiyama and Ishikawa, who are seen as frontrunners in the tournament, weighed in at 47.8kg apiece. Takimoto came in at 47.9kg, while the lighter Seki was official at 47.2kg. The winners of the semi-finals will face off in the tournament final co-main event to determine the first Jewels Featherweight Queen Champion.
In other featured bouts, former Valkyrie Featherweight Champion “V.V” Mei Yamaguchi (8-3-1) weighed in at 51.5kg for her lightweight bout with promotional star Mika “Future Princess” Nagano (8-5-0), who hit the mark at 52kg on the dot. Yasuko “Ikuko” Tamada (12-6-3) and Sachiko “Sachi” Yamamoto (8-6-1) came in at 47.5kg and 47.6kg, respectively, for their Featherweight Queen GP reserve bout. In the event of an injury to a tournament finalist, the winner of the reserve bout will advance to the finals.
Saturday’s card is the latest Jewels event to shine a spotlight on young prospects who could develop into future stars in the Japanese mixed martial arts scene. After teen prodigy Mizuki Inoue, then 16, captured last year’s 56kg Rough Stone GP title, Jewels features four more fighters aged 16 or younger at “17th Ring.” Among them is Inoue’s 13-year-old White Heart Karate Association teammate, Yukari Yamaguchi, who makes her MMA debut after winning championships in boxing, jiu-jitsu and karate.
In the finals of the Jewels Under-15 kickboxing tournament, 12-year-old “Muay Thai Genius” Saya Ito (61-8-3; 19 KOs) faces 14-year-old Chihiro Imoto. Elsewhere, 16-year-old grappling prospect Shino VanHoose (1-0-0) returns to MMA for her Jewels debut against Asami Higa (0-2-0).
Jewels: “17th Ring” takes place tomorrow night at Shinjuku FACE in Tokyo, Japan.
Jewels: “17th Ring” Fight Card:
15. Ayaka Hamasaki vs Seo Hee Ham [Jewels Lightweight Queen Championship – 3×5 Special Rules]
14. Sugiyama/Ishikawa winner vs Takimoto/Seki winner [Jewels Featherweight Queen GP Final – 2×5]
13. “V.V” Mei Yamaguchi vs Mika “Future Princess” Nagano [Jewels 52kg Official MMA Rules – 2×5]
12. Emi “Kamikaze Angel” Fujino vs Celine Haga [Jewels 52kg Official MMA Rules – 2×5]
11. Miku Hayashi vs Kanomu Shisso [Jewels 52kg Kickboxing Rules – 3×2]
10. Mai vs Miyako “Smile” Mitsuhori [Jewels 49kg Kickboxing Rules – 3×2]
9. Emi Tomimatsu vs Rina Tomita [Jewels 52kg Official MMA Rules – 2×5]
8. Yasuko “Ikuko” Tamada vs Sachiko “Sachi” Yamamoto [Featherweight Queen Reserve Bout – 2×5]
7. Naho “Sugi Rock” Sugiyama vs Kikuyo Ishikawa [Featherweight Queen GP Semi-Final – 2×5]
6. Misaki Takimoto vs Yukiko Seki [Featherweight Queen GP Semi-Final – 2×5]
5. Shino VanHoose vs Asami Higa [Jewels 48kg Official MMA Rules – 2×5]
4. Yuka Okumura vs Anna Saito [Jewels 54kg Official MMA Rules – 2×5]
3. “Muay Thai Genius” Saya Ito vs Chihiro Imoto [Jewels 46kg Under-15 Kickboxing Final – 2×2]
2. Yukari Yamaguchi vs Nana “Chanchin” Ichikawa [Jewels Amateur MMA Rules – 1×4]
1. Miiri Sasaki vs Fuka Saito [Jewels 48kg Amateur Kickboxing Rules – 2×2]
A 12 year old has a 61-8-3 record? That sounds crazy, then again I don’t really follow kickboxing much, but that seems like a lot of fights for someone so young.
Yup, she started training when she was four and had her first fight not too long after that. Generally fights quite a few times per year and often against teenage male opponents. She is extremely talented.
Yes Saya is a beast, as most of the Shobukai kids are, Imai Kaicho their coach is amazing…actually Shino VanHoose who is also on the card reciently started training striking at Shobukai along w/ MMA at Paraestra Hachioji. Saya also trains a lot in Thailand and is a champion there as well.