Deep Jewels Atomweight Champion “V.V” Mei Yamaguchi seeks her first victory inside the PXC cage when she competes on March 18th at Pacific Xtreme Combat 52 in Mangilao, Guam. Yamaguchi faces off against skilled prospect Tessa “The Typhoon” Simpson in a featured 105-pound matchup.
PXC officials confirmed the bout this week following announcements from both fighters. Yamaguchi’s previous two appearances for PXC both ended in controversial Split Decision losses, but she racked up three straight wins this past year. Simpson most recently defeated Paulina “Firefox” Granados.
Yamaguchi (15-8-1) has been one of Japan’s top female fighters for more than six years, dating back to her Valkyrie title victory over MMA legend Yuka “Vale Tudo Queen” Tsuji in February 2010. Her ventures outside of Japan have not been as successful, however. She dropped a competitive decision to Katja “Killer Bunny” Kankaanpää in Finland in 2012, and later suffered contentious decision losses to “Little” Patricia Vidonic and Gina “Conviction” Iniong in PXC bouts that many observers felt that Yamaguchi had rightfully won. She is 4-1 since the loss to Iniong and captured Deep Jewels title gold in May.
Simpson (3-1-0), who was raised in Guam and now resides in Texas, began her pro MMA career in March 2009 and quickly made a name for herself with a pair of impressive first-round victories. She made a quick return to action just two weeks after scoring her second win and moved all the way up to 120 pounds for a bout against veteran Anita “El Tigre” Rodriguez. Simpson was overwhelmed by the much larger Rodriguez and suffered her first loss in the fight. She took a lengthy hiatus from MMA before returning in September 2013 with a dominant decision win over the highly-touted Granados.
Pacific Xtreme Combat 52 is set for March 18th at University of Guam Fieldhouse in Mangilao, Guam.
(Photo Credit: Deep Jewels)