Hamasaki vs Aguilar, fighters with history -

On July 31st, Rizin’s Super Atomweight Tournament is set to start. In the opening round, Kanna Asakura will face Si Woo Park, Seika Izawa will face Laura Fontoura, Rena will face Anastasiya Svetkivska, and Ayaka Hamasaki will face Jessica Aguilar. Born a little more than a month apart, Hamasaki and Aguilar, both 40, will be the oldest competitors. Throughout their careers, these two veterans have taken part in significant moments in MMA history and their paths have crossed, both directly and indirectly. For example, Aguilar fought and defeated Hamasaki’s mentor, Megumi Fujii, twice, including in her retirement bout. She also fought and defeated Hamasaki’s friend, Emi Fujino, in WSOF. However, the most notable instance, was back in 2011 when the two almost fought each other. Their fight was canceled 3 and 1/2 hours before it was scheduled to start, due to one of the most devastating natural disasters in Japanese history. For unknown reasons, the fight was never rescheduled, until now.

2010, Jewels and Bellator

In order to fully appreciate the history between Hamasaki and Aguilar, one needs to go back 2010, the year when both fighters gained international attention and set the stage for their first scheduled fight in 2011. 2010 is important in WMMA history because two key tournaments took place, the Jewels Lightweight Grand Prix and Bellator’s 115lb Tournament. From these tournaments came a UFC champion, a WSOF champion, three Invicta FC champions, and two Rizin champions. Six of the participants went on to the UFC and after Rizin 37, five of them will have fought for Rizin.

On June 27, 2010, Deep CEO Saeki and Jewels CEO Ozono held a press conference in Tokyo where they announced some of the participants in Jewels upcoming Lightweight Grant Prix (Lightweight has since been rebranded to Strawweight in Deep Jewels). Mika Nagano, Saori Ishioka, and Seo Hee Ham had already been confirmed as participants, so it was announced that Mai Ichii, Sakura Nomura, Celine Haga, and Ayaka Hamasaki would also take part. Han Sol Lee was later added, rounding out the 8-person tournament.

Going into the Grand Prix, Hamasaki was 1-0, having just made her pro-debut in 2009. While she and Lee were the most inexperienced entrants with one pro fight a piece, Hamasaki came armed with an extensive amateur judo background and had already gone 4-0-1 as an amateur in MMA. She was also training under the supervision of Megumi Fujii, a legend in Japanese MMA. If people didn’t know what to expect from her, they got a glimpse of what was to come when she submitted Lee in the opening round in just 48 seconds. At Jewels 11th Ring in December, she defeated Nomura and her future rival Ham in one night to win the Grand Prix and become the new Lightweight Champion in just her 4th fight.

While Hamasaki was busy competing in the Jewels Lightweight Grand Prix, another 8-person 52kg (115lb) tournament was taking place. Earlier that year, Bellator’s then-CEO Bjorn Rebney announced the promotion’s plan to hold their first women’s tournament. Megumi Fujii was set to be one of the participants, along with Carla Esparza, Jessica Agular, Jessica Penne, Lynn Alvarez, Zoila Frausto, Aisling Daly, and Lisa Ward. Fujii performed well, submitting Esparza and Ward before losing a close split decision to Frausto in the finals. En route to the finals, Frausto defeated Aguilar, who was present at the finals and when the decision was read, she notably came into the cage, raised Fujii’s hand, and told her that she had won.

2011, A last-minute booking

With Hamasaki fresh off of her Grand Prix victory, Ozono held a press conference on February 8th, where he discussed the upcoming Jewels 12th Ring show. Hamasaki was present and the two announced that she was going to defend her title. This was noteworthy for several reasons. First, it was to be her first scheduled main event. Second, Ozono mentioned that they were looking to bring in a strong fighter from abroad for her to face. Finally, this would be Hamasaki’s first fight where strikes to the head of a grounded opponent would be allowed. Up to this point, she had been competing under Jewels’ standard rules, where GNP to the head was not allowed.

Roughly ten days later, it was announced that Hamasaki was going to face Lisa Ward, a fighter with a lot of links to the Japanese MMA scene. Ward fought in Smackgirl, Jewels’ predecessor, fought Miku Matsumoto and Megumi Fujii twice, and defeated Megumi Yabushita. More recently, she competed in Bellator’s high-profile 115lb tournament. Japanese fans were familiar with Ward, so it made sense to book her against Hamasaki. However, it was not to be. Early in March, Ward suffered a calf injury in training and was forced to withdraw. Luckily, Jessica Aguilar had been training for a fight near the end of February that also fell apart when her opponent was forced to withdraw due to an injury. As a result, she was available to fight Hamasaki on essentially one week’s notice.

On fight day, at 2:26 PM, Japan was hit by the Tohoku earthquake, the most powerful earthquake ever recorded in Japan. It triggered a tsunami, with waves over 40 meters (131 feet) high and caused a nuclear disaster in Fukushima. It was truly devastating and its impact lasts to this day. As a result of the earthquake and the ensuing damage, Jewels 12th Ring was canceled. Two months later Jewels started holding events again, but for whatever reason, the fight between Hamasaki and Aguilar was never rebooked.

Hamasaki and Aguilar the day before their scheduled fight
Photo Credit: Sports Navi

2022, A second booking

When Hamasaki and Aguilar were originally slated to face each other in 2011, Hamasaki was 4-0 and Aguilar was 10-4. Now, they are 23-5 and 20-9 respectively. Hamasaki went on to clear out the 52kg (115lb) division in Japan, went to Invicta FC, dropped to atomweight, became the first Japanese fighter to win a North American title, and then relinquished her title in order to return to Japan where she became a champion in Rizin. At her peak, she was widely considered the best atomweight in the world. Aguilar, went on to fight and defeat Megumi Fujii twice, win the WSOF championship, where she defeated Emi Fujino, and fight for the UFC five times. Interestingly, now, instead of facing each other near the beginning of their careers, they are set to face each other near the end.

Like for her second fight with Izawa, Hamasaki split her training for this fight between AACC and Burst near Hiroshima. Burst is owned and operated by Megumi Fujii and her husband Shinji Sasaki. Fujii used to teach at AACC with Abe, so this arrangement makes sense. In fact, according to an interview with Gong Magazine, Abe records Hamasaki’s training in Tokyo and sends it to Fujii and Sasaki for analysis. Hamasaki commented that training at Burst has helped shell up some of the holes in her game. Aguilar for her part hasn’t fought since November of 2020, meaning she hasn’t stepped into the cage for roughly a year and a half. According to Outsmart Magazine, she and her wife have found success rennovating and flipping homes. In fact they bought a house in Houston for $250,000 and sold it for $427,500 after rennovating it.