At just 16 years of age, Mizuki Inoue will be the youngest participant in Sunday’s Rough Stone Grand Prix at Jewels: “Tenth Ring.” The kickboxer from Aichi, Japan enters the 56kg bracket of the tournament in her mixed martial arts debut against Abe Ani Combat Club prospect Emi Murata.
Despite her young age, Inoue has already made a big impression in three kickboxing bouts this year. On July 25th, she shocked many by upsetting MMA veteran Emi Fujino in her professional kickboxing debut and she is coming off of another one-sided victory on September 20th.
A light heavyweight bout between former champions Rich “Ace” Franklin and Forrest Griffin is in the works for a February 5th event tentatively titled UFC 127. MMAFighting.com first reported on the planned fight earlier today and bout agreements could be signed and made official soon.
Following a week of rumours, DEEP has officially confirmed that Japanese star Ikuhisa “Minowaman” Minowa will compete at DEEP: 50th Impact on October 24th. As usual, Minowa will face a much larger opponent when he takes on 300-pound South Korean super heavyweight Chang Hee Kim.
In addition to signing many of the top fighters from all over the world, the all-female GirlFight Global promotion plans to be the first MMA promotion to air all of its events in 3D. This unique plan would apply to all GFG shows, beginning with the debut event now targeted for early in 2011.
September was a busy month for mixed martial arts in both the men’s and women’s divisions. WEC Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo Junior remains atop the 145-pound division, while Megumi “Mega Megu” Fujii moved her record to an incredible 22-0 with a second victory over Lisa Ward.
World Extreme Cagefighting came to the 1stBank Center in Broomfield, Colorado tonight for WEC 51: “Aldo vs Gamburyan.” The stacked event was headlined by a WEC Featherweight Championship bout between champion Jose Aldo Junior and top contender Manny “The Anvil” Gamburyan.
Megumi “Mega Megu” Fujii and Zoila “The Warrior Princess” Frausto both picked up wins tonight at Bellator 31 to advance to the finals of the Bellator 115-pound women’s tournament. However, they did so in very different fashions. Fujii submitted Lisa Ward in just 99 seconds, while Frausto escaped with a controversial decision win over Jessica “Jag” Aguilar.
Canadian Muay Thai Champion Julia “The Jewel” Budd will make her pro MMA debut as part of the October 22nd Strikeforce Challengers 11 card. The British Columbia native, who is the only woman to ever defeat Gina Carano in Muay Thai, will face Shana “Rock Solid” Olsen at 145 pounds.