On December 11th, Deep Jewels will be holding their final event of the year at the New Pier Hall in Tokyo, Japan. Taking part will be veterans like Miki Motono, King Reina, and Mizuki Furuse, as well as newcomers like Hime, te-a, Aya Murakami, Eru Takebayashi and Moeri Suda. Also of note, is Hanako Sawa, who is making her pro-debut. Deep’s CEO Saeki indicated that they had not been able to find anyone to compete with her on the amateur level, so it will be interesting to see what she looks like in her first MMA competition. A number of fights on this card will have divisional ramifications and a win might place some fighters in a position to fight for Rizin in the near future.
You can watch Deep Jewels 35 on PPV for 2,500 Yen if you order in advance, or 3,000 Yen if you order on the day of the event. Shizuka Sugiyama will be doing the guest commentary. Here is the Deep Jewels 35 Opening VTR.
Miki Motono returns to challenge Hime
This Saturday, the former Straweight Champion, Miki Motono will make her return to the cage after a rough start to the year. In February, she suffered a knee injury that caused her to pull out of a fight and then she lost the championship later that June. While the current condition of her right knee is unknown, it was heavily taped in her last fight.
Miki started training in Judo when she was 5, in order to defend herself against a cousin, and was active in the sport all the way though college plus 1 year as a professional. During that time, she went to the prestigious Tokai University that also produced Kana Watanabe and Saori Oshima. She even managed to defeat Yuka Nishida, a highly decorated Judoka who was the 2010 world champion. In other words, it’s an understatement to say that she has a strong Judo background and it makes sense that people have called her Hamasaki 2.0, a reference to her teammate and Rizin champion Ayaka Hamasaki.
On Saturday, she will face Hime, who dropped down to 52kg in her last fight against Shoko Fujita. A former basketball player in her mid-30’s, Hime made her debut earlier this year and has already put together a 2-0 record. Fight Trailer Here
Kate Lotus and Aoi Kuriyama fight for first win in 2021
Like the returning former champion, Kate Lotus has also had a rough 2021. While she won her pro-debut in December of last year, this year she has gone 0-2. Despite these losses, her fanbase has continued to grow and she has quickly become one of the more popular fighters in the promotion. As a former bodybuilder, with no real background in combat sports, fans get the impression that she is trying hard to catch up to her peers, and they’re supporting her. For this camp, she came up from Kobe and has been training at K-Clann in Tokyo, with fighters like Seika Izawa and King Reina.
Across the cage from Kate will be Aoi Kuriyama, who is also from the Kansai region and trains at the popular Smokers Gym, home of the popular Hagiwara. Not only is she from the same region as Kate, she has also had a rough 2021, also going 0-2. This fight will give one of the two a much needed win this year and will be an interesting preview of the rumored flyweight tournament next year. Fight Trailer Here
King Reina looks to return to win column against ex-soldier te-a
Earlier this year, King Reina was involved in some Shoot Boxing drama when she got upset about her loss to Mina. In the match, Mina got a yellow card for repeatedly dropping to the ground in order to avoid King Reina’s throw attempts. Despite this point deduction, Mina went on to win a unanimous decision. Afterwards, King Reina insisted on a rematch under MMA rules. It briefly looked like this might actually happen, with Caesar seeming to support the idea, buy it never came to be. Instead, she is now scheduled to face te-a this weekend.
A former soldier, who retired to pursue a career in MMA, te-a is a young fighter who trains at the famed AACC. She’s fought three times this year, twice as a professional, and them all. While she does have a submission victory, it is likely that King Reina will have a grappling advantage, so we should expect te-a to try to make it a striking bout. Recently, King Reina has been more willing to stand and strike with her opponents, so it will be interesting to see what she decides to do. Fight Trailer Here
Aya Murakami looks to climb to 4-0 over Mizuki Furuse
The Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Ace and cosplayer, Aya Murakami will face the popular Mizuki Furuse in an important Microweight bout this weekend. The recently re-activated 44kg/97lb division has seen a lot of action recently and with a win over Furuse, Aya will likely be next in line for a title shot against either Saori Oshima or Amp the Rocket (One is the Deep champion and one is the Deep Jewels champion). With Amp unable to enter the country at the moment, Saori is more likely to be her next opponent, should she win.
It is hard to believe that the 7-8 Furuse is only 20 years old. She got a lot of attention when she took place in a tournament on Abema TV, where she made it to the finals and ultimately lost to Itsuki Hirata. Since then, she has gone 5-3, gotten married to a fellow fighter, and had a child. Having a smaller frame, she should be more at home in this division than Atomweight, where fighters like Nisse and Kanna Asakura were able to bully her physically. Going into this bout, Furuse will be the taller younger fighter, but Aya should have a clear advantage on the ground, so it will be interesting to see what their respective strategies are. Fight Trailer Here
Top Wrestler, Hanako Sawa, to make pro-debut
In 2012, Japanese women won 3 out of the 4 possible gold medals in wrestling. In 2016, they won 4 out of the possible 6 and in 2020 they did it again. With this tradition of producing some of the best female wrestlers in the world, it may be surprising to some to read that not many have transitioned to MMA. In reality, Miyuu Yamamoto and Kanako Murata are the only high level wrestlers to have successfully made the transition. This will change this weekend, when the 22 year old Hanako Sawa makes her debut.
When speaking to the media earlier this year, Deep’s CEO Saeki seemed pretty excited about a new addition to the flyweight division and now we know why. He has since stated that he is interested in putting together a tournament for the division next year. With Kate Lotus, Shizuka Sugiyama, Aoi Kuriyama, Yukari Nabe, Micco Nirvana, and now Hanako in the division, it seems likely to happen.
An Osaka native, Hanako trains at the Pancrase Osaka Inagaki Gym, home of the popular Rizin fighter Kintaro. At the moment, little is known about why she made the transition to MMA or how it is going, but this fight should show a hint of her potential.
Under 20 prospects Eru Takebayashi and Moeri Suda set to face off
At 18 and 17 years old, Eru and Moeri are two of the youngest fighters in Deep Jewels. While they both are young, aggressive, and have good gas tanks, they do have different styles with Eru being a striker and Moeri being a grappler.
Throughout her young career, Eru has become known for her striking. She comes forward and throws accurate combinations, mixing kicks, punches, and knees all together. Going into this match, she is coming off of her first loss to Aira Koga. In that match, Aira was able to mix takedowns with her striking to keep Eru primarily on the defensive. Grappling appears to be one of Eru’s weaker points so it will be interesting to see what her strategy is this Saturday.
An Osaka native, Moeri is a blue belt in BJJ and even won her division at the All Japan BJJ Championship earlier this year. In addition to this, in her recent fight with Otoha she showed that she has also been working on her striking. These types of improvements are likely why despite losing her first two pro fights, she has now won three in a row. Another win could see her elevated to a higher stage.
Deep Jewels 35 Card
- Miki Motono vs Hime (52kg/115lbs)
- King Reina vs te-a (65kg/145lbs)
- Mizuki Furuse vs Aya Murakami (44kg/97lbs)
- Aoi Kuriyama vs Kate Lotus (56.7kg/125lbs)
- Yuko Suzuki vs Tomoko Inoue (52kg/115lbs)
- Shoko Fujita vs Yurina (58kg/128lbs)
- Eru Takebayashi vs Moeri Suda (49kg/108lbs)
- Kana Kagaya vs Hanako Sawa (56.7kg/125lbs)
- Otoha vs Haruka Yamaguchi (50kg/110lbs) Kickboxing
- Marina Kumagai vs PochanZ (68kg/150lbs)
- Rajina vs Saki Nakamura (54kg/119lbs) Amateur Kickboxing
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