This Sunday at the New Pier Hall in Tokyo, Japan, Deep Jewels 38 went down without a hitch. Seika Izawa was doing commentary, Kiryu addressed the crowd during the opening ceremony, Suda and Hime set themselves apart, and Sarah defeated Sarah. While the event had popular fighters like Mika Nagano, Kate Lotus, and Mizuki Furuse on the card, what really set this card apart was the amount of young talent. Deep Jewels 38 was headlined by two women that made their debuts two years ago and the winner of the co-main made her debut a little more than a year ago. The amateurs looked good for being amateurs, with the Sarah’s, Machi, and Saito all sticking out as possibly read to start competing as professionals. It goes without saying that the biggest winner was Hime, who looked perfect in her quick destruction of Kiryu.
Moeri Suda avenges loss
Going into the main event, Aya Murakami told us that Suda and her camp were good at forming strategies to shut down their opponent’s strengths while focusing on her own and that is exactly what happened. In the opening round, the noticeably shorter Murakami was able to get the fight to the ground, where she threatened with a heel hook, but Suda was able to defend. From the 2nd round on, Suda was able to avoid Murakami’s submissions on the ground while going for a couple herself. She also didn’t hesitate to stand up when the option presented itself and use her length to force Aya to dash forward in an attempt to hit her. Suda clearly had a defined game plan going into the bout and she executed it to near perfection. That being said, Murakami had her moments and clearly has a high level grappling game.
With this win, Suda has now won two since losing to Oshima in May. At just 18 years of age, she’s put herself forward as a top prospect and while she is clearly improving, it might be best for her to get a couple more wins under her belt before facing Oshima again. Having fought and won in Rizin, a fun next matchup could be her versus Kanna Asakura. Kanna, who seems to be near the end of her career, got started in MMA when she was still in high school, so it could be an interesting passing of the torch. Also, Kanna’s aggressive takedown game, combined with Moeri’s bottom game could lead to a lot of fun scrambles.
Hime wows crowd with KO
On a card with only 3 finishes, Hime brought the crowd to their feet with her quick and dominating KO win over Yuko Kiryu. The former semi-professional basketball player entered the cage, mimed shooting a basket, and once the fight started she hit, stunned, and hit Yuko until she collapsed to the canvas. In the past, Hime was more of a counter puncher but with this performance, she’s shown us that she can take the fight to her opponents. After the quick win, Hime addressed the crowd and publicly asked for an opportunity to compete for Rizin. With a record of 4-1 and a win over Saori Oshima, she certainly qualifies.
Traditionally, Japanese women in MMA tend to come from a Judo background and lean towards a grappling-based style. Hime on the other hand, comes from a basketball background. As a result, she’s clearly athletic, moves well, and has power. Her addition to Deep Jewels has added an exciting striker to the roster and now that she’s at Super Atomweight, I wouldn’t be surprised to see her on a future Rizin show. It’s too soon for rematches with Oshima or Motono, but a matchup with the fellow hard-hitting Si Woo Park somewhere down the road could be fun.
Kate Lotus, Kyoka, and Momoka snap losing streaks
Popular fighters Kate Lotus, Kyoka Chibisai, and Momoka Yoshikawa all picked up much needed wins this Sunday. Kate for her part snapped a 2 fight losing streak and picked up her first win since 2021. In addition, she looked strong at 50kg and clearly has been working on her grappling at K-Clann with the likes of Seika Izawa and Mika Nagano. Her opponent, Eru Takebayashi, had her moments but the exciting striker clearly needs to work on her grappling if she wants to get back to her winning ways. Elsewhere on the card, Kyoka and Momoka, both fighters with some degree of popularity, picked up their first wins, albeit in different fashion. Kyoka out worked her opponent in a somewhat grueling affair, while Momoka aggressively attacked her opponent with a variety of strikes until the ref stepped in.
Mika Nagano taps BJJ Brownbelt
After 3 years away, Mika Nagano is now 2-0 in 2022, 8 years after she initially retired in 2014. Not only is she 2-0, but both are finishes, with 1 front choke and 1 of her trademark armbars. Ahead of this bout, Mika, who is technically freelance, trained at K-Clann, with the likes of Seika Izawa and Kate Lotus. Both Seika and Yokota were in her corner and the 38 year old looked to be in great shape taking Inoue, a BJJ brownbelt, down with ease, and getting the armbar, 1 of the only 3 finishes at Deep Jewels 38. While Mika’s return is exciting, it will be interesting to see what she does next. Strawweight as a division is noticeably empty and she’s mentioned that she could easily make Atomweight in the past. Also, do you pair her next with a fellow veteran or have her go against a young up-and-comer? A matchup with fellow wrestler and grappler Hikaru Aono could be fun.
Sarah edges out Sarah in tight contest
In the most anticipated amateur bout of the night, Sarah, who appeared on Breaking Down and now trains at Tri-Force with the Asakura brothers, defeated Sarah. While they are both simply billed as Sarah, when she appeared on Breaking Down she went by Sarah Suzuki, so that might be the best way to differentiate the two. When Suzuki entered the cage, Rikuto Shirakawa, formerly known as Dark Shirakawa, was in her corner, who has himself recently appeared in some of the Asakura videos. People were also there filming her, clearly for some sort of Youtube content. In other words, it looks like Suzuki might be on her way to becoming a popular fighter via Youtube.
Results
Main Card
- Moeri Suda defeated Aya Murakami via UD after 3 rounds [A]
- Hime defeated Yuko Kiryu at 0:37 of RD 1 via KO (Punches) [S.A]
- Mizuki Furuse defeated Momoka Yamazaki via UD after 2 rounds [M]
- Kate Lotus defeated Eru Takebayashi via SD after 2 rounds [50kg]
- Mika Nagano defeated Tomoko Inoue at 4:19 of RD 1 via Submission (Armbar) [S]
- Aoi Kuriyama defeated Te-a via UD after 2 rounds [59kg]
- Kyoka Chibisai defeated Kimika Jaka via UD after 2 rounds [M]
Amateur Fights
- Momoka Yoshikawa defeated Misaki Suda at 1:51 of RD 1 via TKO (Punches) [51kg]
- Sarah defeated Sarah via SD after 2 rounds [53kg]
- Haruka Suzuki defeated Serina Kondo via UD after 2 round [60kg]
- Momoka Saito defeated Machi Fukuda via UD after 2 round [F]
- A = Atomweight
- S.A = Super Atomweight
- S = Strawweight
- M = Microweight
- F = Flyweight
Follow Us
You can follow Sogo-Kaku on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
English 
Japanese