This Sunday, at the New Pier Hall in Tokyo, Japan, Deep Jewels will hold their 45th event. Scheduled to take place are two title matches, the return of Rin Nakai, and more, including the debut of MMA legend Kitaoka’s wife. The main event between Oshima and Murakami is sure to attract a lot of attention as its a title consolidation match between the consensus best two microweights in Japan. Saori Oshima has made a name for herself as a multi-division champion who’s willing to go up several weight classes in order to compete whereas her opponent, Murakami, boasts some of the best Brazilian Jiu Jitsu you’ll find in Japan, while also attracting attention with her cosplay. Whoever wins, will without a doubt be considered the best Microweight in the world. Elsewhere on the card, Machi will face Park for the interim Strawweight title and Rin Nakai will return to take on Hime.
Oshima and Murakami to Unify Titles
This Sunday, when Oshima and Murakami step into the cage, both will do so as Microweight Champions. However, when the dust settles only one will leave as one. This consolidation has been on people’s minds since Murakami won her belt last September and now that its finally happening, people are excited to see this clash of styles that is reminiscent of Kimura vs Gracie, in that one will be representing judo, while the other represents BJJ.
Different backgrounds aside, the two also have distinct styles and approaches. Oshima, for her part, isn’t one to waste time. She implements a high-pace, aggressive, in your face grappling style, where she fearlessly risks losing dominant positions in her never ending pursuit of the finish, seemingly relishing in the chaos of the scramble. Take her title defense against Mizuki Furuse as an example, where she threw her to the ground and submitted her in under two minutes, just 1 of 6 first round submissions she has to date. That match is a good example of her aggression, whereas her match with Asakura in Rizin showcases her ability to scramble and improvise. In that past, Oshima has mentioned working towards a big goal and while that goal isn’t known, we do know that she likes to fight all over, be it in Rizin or Black Combat, so a win here could definitely help her get back to those stages or open the way to a new opportunity all together.
Murakami, on the other hand, is more meticulous and calculated. She looks for the takedown and if that doesn’t work, she tries to pull guard, anything to get the fight to the ground, where she can start working from Point A to Point B, all en route to a submission. Compared to Oshima, she’s less aggressive, preferring to work from dominant positions and less willing to initiate scrambles. She has also been honing her striking skills, so it will be intriguing to see if she opts to test them out before attempting to get Oshima down. As long-time MMA fans are aware, sometimes these contests between grapplers end up turning into striking affairs.
Known for her cosplay themed entrances, Aya has spent her entire career up to now in Deep/Deep Jewels and a win over Oshima would not only be her biggest win to date, it could also potentially open other opportunities for her, like Rizin and Black Combat, both of which Oshima has competed in.
Machi and Park Vie for Interim Title
In the co-main event, the popular Machi will face off against the Korean striker, Si Woo Park, with the Interim Strawweight Title on the line. This is an interesting title match, considering Arisa Matsuda just won the Interim Title last November, but there has been some talk that she might have been scheduled to compete in the Road to UFC before something came up. It is also uncertain of whether or not Matsuda is still an interim champion or not. Either way, the winner of this match could face Izawa in the future or be promoted to full-on champion should she decide to remain at Super Atomweight and Atomweight.
Surprisingly, this will be Park’s first fight at Strawweight, yet despite her going up in weight she’s incredibly gifted physically and may still have a strength advantage against Machi. She’s originally a kickboxing convert to MMA, like her former mentor Ham Seo Hee, but she’s been training in Japan now for several years, primarily at Krazy Bee, with the likes of former world champion wrestler Miyuu Yamamoto, so she has developed good takedown defense. In fact, she has now fought Seika Izawa twice and since Izawa’s joined Rizin, Izawa’s been the only opponent she couldn’t submit. This should give Park some confidence against another grappler in Machi, who looked hittable in her last fight against Matsuda. Park may also decide to take a defensive posture and punish Machi as she comes in.
Across the cage from Park will be Machi, an exciting up and comer, who at 20 years of age has a lot of potential as a prospect. She’s already fought and won in Rizin, where she defeated the ever tough Ayaka Watanabe and she holds a good win over Hime. She’s a grappler through-and-through and somewhat similar to Oshima, she has a very in your face, grinding style of wearing her opponents down. However, at 5 feet, she has struggled with taller opponents in the past, especially strikers, so this match will be a good opportunity for her to show how much she’s grown in that area. If Machi is able to execute her game plan, I imagine it will look like her match with Hime, where she stuck to her like glue until she got the finish.
Nakai Returns Against Hime
In an anticipated return to action, Rin Nakai, the Deep Jewels Flyweight Champion, is set to return this Sunday after defeating Aoi Kuriyama a little more than a year ago. In fact, her opponent was originally slated to be Kuriyama in a rematch, but due to an injury, Kuriyama was forced to withdraw. As a result, there was a dash to find an opponent to keep Nakai on the card and two fighters stepped forward. The first was Honoka Shigeta, the newly crowned Pancrase Flyweight Champion, but that fight wasn’t able to be put together. Instead, Nakai was matched up with Hime, the other fighter who came forward. You may recall that Hime is a former semi-professional basketball player who has been fighting at Strawweight and Super Atomweight recently. Going into this match, Nakai will have a clear size, power, and grappling advantage, but if Hime is able to effectively utilize her counter striking and speed, something interesting could happen.
A win here for Nakai, would further demonstrate her high caliber as she continues to make her case to re-join the UFC, while a win here for Hime would be career defining. Nakai has never lost to a Japanese fighter and never lost outside the UFC, so it is easy to see why many consider her the favorite going into this match.
The Full Card
- Saori Oshima vs Aya Murakami *
- Si Woo Park vs Machi *
- Rin Nakai vs Hime
- te-a vs Momoko Saito
- Boss Suzuki vs Juki Sue
- Misaki Suda vs Seari Sumimura
- Cocoa Kitaoka vs Luane Akemi
* Indicates a title fight
How to Watch
- In Japan, it will air via U-Next and Samurai Fighting TV
- Outside of Japan, it will air on their Youtube Channel for Members
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