Deep Jewels Flyweight Champion Rin Nakai will make the next defence of her title against a familiar foe on May 26th at Deep Jewels 45 in Tokyo, Japan. Nakai will compete in a rematch against Aoi Kuriyama, who has scored three straight first-round knockouts since losing to Nakai in 2023.

The championship rematch was officially announced today. Nakai claimed the title by winning two fights in one night at Deep Jewels 37 in May 2022, then choked out Kuriyama late in the second round of their Deep Jewels 40 bout. Kuriyama has rebounded impressively while showcasing big power.

Nakai (26-2-1) is currently riding a ten-fight winning streak since departing the UFC in 2016 and she is 6-0 under the Deep Jewels banner. More impressively, all ten of Nakai’s wins during the past eight years have come inside the distance, and 20 of her career victories overall have ended via stoppage. Despite expressing her intentions to get back to the UFC, Nakai has not yet received an opportunity to do so, and so she will stay active by making her next title defence in May while hoping to extend her winning streak even further.

Kuriyama (7-5-1) has already faced most of the top Japanese flyweights and bantamweights during her career, which dates back to Deep Jewels 27 in late 2019, and she has shown improvement during recent fights. In particular, Kuriyama’s striking has allowed her to overwhelm her opponents, beginning with a crushing knockout of Marina Kumagai at Rizin FF 43 and most recently culminating with an 88-second TKO win for Kuriyama this past month. With wins in five of her past six fights, Kuriyama now aims to avenge a loss and capture her first title.

Update: This bout was subsequently cancelled when Kuriyama sustained a knee injury in training. Nakai will instead compete against Namiko “Hime” Kawabata (4-3-0) in a non-title 58kg matchup.

Deep Jewels 45 takes place on May 26th at New Pier Hall in Tokyo, Japan.