Otoha Nagao defeated Pan Hui via Split Decision
In the first fight of the main card, Otoha defeated Pan Hui via Split Decision. In a back and forth affair, Otoha and Pan kept the fight standing. While Pan was more aggressive throughout the fight, Otoha landed the more affective shots. Notably, she landed a couple of big teep kicks, including one to the head. With this victory, the 17 year old AACC prospect moves to 3-2.
Saori Oshima defeated Sakura Mori by Technical Submission (Armbar)
Before the fight, it is obvious that Sakura had a large contingent of fans present at the event. If she continues to sell a large amount tickets, one can expect to see her back at future events. In this fight, Sakura came out aggressive but she was out grappled by late replacement Saori. In a final sequence that reminded me of Sakuraba, Saori used a double wrist lock to sweep Sakura then finished her with the submission from the top.
Hikaru Aono defeated Lion Noda via TKO (Punches)
This match was all Hikaru as she took Lion down and attempted submissions before finishing her with strikes in the first round. The ground and pound bloodied Lion and left her on the ring for a couple of seconds afterwards. With this win, Hikaru rebounded from a loss last December and moved to 6-3.
Ayaka Hamasaki and Emi Tomimatsu defeated Tomo Maesawa and Mizuki Furuse (Grappling)
In an entertaining grappling match, Ayaka Hamasaki dominated the competition submitting both Mizuki Furuse and Tomo Maesawa. Before the match started the four played rock, paper, scissors to decide the teams. Ayaka was teamed with Emi Tomimatsu and Mizuki and Tomo were paired together. The match started with Ayaka versus Mizuki. Ayaka threw Mizuki to the ground and submitted her with an armbar, making it look effortless. Afterwards, Emi and Tomo grappled with neither having the advantage. After awhile, Emi tagged Ayaka who came in, took Tomo down, and submitted her with an armbar.
Afterwards, Mizuki spoke about her desire to fight for Rizin, echoing her twitter interactions with Ayaka where she asked to challenge her. Tomo also spoke about her desire to fight in Rizin again, directly asking Ayaka if she could fight her in Rizin. Ayaka responded by stating that she would happily fight her.
Shizuka Sugiyama defeated Mika Arai via Submission (Armbar)
In an anticipated match, Shizuka Sugiyama defeated Mika Arai by an armbar in the third round. The first two rounds were fairly close. Shizuka was generally more active and secured a couple of takedowns in the opening rounds but was not able to capitalize on these situations. In the third round she came out and started to pull ahead of Mika before she took her down and secured an armbar. Afterwards, Shizuka seemed disappointed in her performance, stating that she should have done better in the opening rounds.
Miki Motono defeated Akaringo via TKO (Punches) to become the Interim 52kg Champion
In the main event, Miki Motono defeated Akaringo by TKO in the first round to claim the interim 52kg Deep Jewels Championship. When the fight first started, Akaraingo found some success landing a good left straight combination on Miki in the corner. However things quickly changed. Miki used her Judo and tripped Akaringo to the ground, where she landed ground and pound which eventually led to a TKO victory.
Afterwards an emotional Miki spoke about how happy she was to win the championship, reminding fans of her loss in Australia and how she had now rebounded from that. She was joined in the ring by her AACC teammates, who went 4-0 at the event.