Deep Jewels 37 Results & Reaction

On Mother’s Day at the Korakuen Hall, two innagural champions were crowned, the Atomweight championship was defended, and a veteran picked up a win over an up-and-comer. The biggest news is that Rin Nakai won the Flyweight tournament, finishing all three of her opponents, and is now the Flyweight Champion. She has now held titles in Smackgirl, Valkyrie, Pancrase, and Deep. In the co-main event, the popular Saori Oshima showcased her lifetime of judo experience by taking the 17-year-old Moeri Suda down and finishing her in the first round. However, in her post-fight speech she revealed that her future in the sport is uncertain.

While it is true that the tournament had a lot of problems, with three fighters receiving byes at different times, it did get a lot of attention. According to Saeki, they sold around 1,000 tickets for this event and the venue looked pretty full, except for the top five or six rows of the bleachers. He credited Nakai and Sugiyama for this success.

Rin Nakai armbars her way to the belt

In a tournament plagued by last minute cancelations, Rin Nakai didn’t seem phazed at all. Not even when Sugiyama’s opponent failed to make weight, meaninig Sugiyama received a bye and advanced automatically to the finals. When asked about being the only fighter to compete twice that day in the finals, Rin’s coach Usami commented that they didn’t see it as a disadvantage, the first fight was just like a sparring session, something she does over a dozen times a day in training. He also added that it helped her improve for the finals.

Interestingly, over a career spanning back to 2006, this was the first time Rin competed twice in one day. According to them, the biggest problem was to figure out what to do between the matches. Ultimately she grabbed a blanket and slept backstage. In the finals, Sugiyama attempted to keep Rin off of her with strikes but Rin was able to get her down and went for the armbar almost immediately. While Sugiyama managed to escape from that attempt, Rin eventually got it on another attempt to win the tournament and become the Flyweight Champion.

Afterward, Rin addressed the crowd and brought up her desire to fight for the UFC again. Here is an excerpt:

“I would like to thank you for allowing me to participate in this tournament. Winning this belt means I can now give back to Deep Jewels and while I want to join the UFC, it’s a matter of if I can and how far I can go. I really appreciate all the fans who’ve supported me. Of course, this belt belongs to the fans. Thank you for your support.”

As she was leaving the venue, Nakai was absolutely swarmed by fans and security had to help escort her out of the venue. Clearly a popular fighter, Saeki mentioned after the show that he wouldn’t stop her from fighting for the UFC or from fighting abroad in a bigger promotion. He also mentioned that with Nakai, he is going to have to bring in foreign fighters for her to fight since she is a level above the talent in Japan.

Saori Oshima retains title, future uncertain

Despite a rough start where she took a front kick to the face, Oshima used her judo skills to get her opponent to the ground and then attacked her arm, refusing to let go, even as they scrambled, until she got the submission victory. This win comes after a tough loss to Hime in March and not only gets her back in the win column but also marks her first title defense. While she has mentioned that she would like to face Amp the Rocket and unify the Deep and Deep Jewels Microweight titles, Oshima’s future in the sport appears to be in jeopardy.

In her post-fight speech as well as in the media scrum afterward, the two-division champion mentioned that she is uncertain about her future in the sport. In the past, she has discussed the difficulties she faces in balancing her roles as a mother of young twins, a wife, and a mixed martial artist. These problems still plague her and she revealed that if she had lost the match today, she may have retired. She also discussed her husband, who is a professional judo player. In Japan, many professional judo players are hired by companies and compete on the company’s team. When they retire, they become normal employees within the company. According to her, her husband, a 2016 Judo Grand Slam champion, has not had good results since she started competing in MMA and it made her wonder if she broke a promise she made to support him in his Judo career. Also, if her husband isn’t able to continue his role as a professional judo player, he will likely be transferred to an office outside of Tokyo, making it difficult for her to train. Despite these difficulties, she added that nothing’s been decided yet and that she would like to continue.

Below is an excerpt of her post-fight speech:

“I have a lot to say since I won. My husband also had a match today (judo) and he lost in the first round. Ever since I started MMA, he hasn’t had good results and I don’t know if that’s why he isn’t getting good results, so I came to the venue today with a lot on my mind. I lost my last fight and a lot of people said that I had gotten big-headed (due to her success), but thanks to Suda calling me out, I did my best because I knew I couldn’t lose to someone still in high school. It’s become a problem of whether I can keep fighting, but at any rate, I’m happy that I won.”

Higashi defeats Kina Reina for Featherweight Title

In a rematch from roughly a year ago, Yoko Higashi once again defeated King Reina, this time for the Featherweight Title. The fight played out similarily to their first fight, except Higashi was able to get Reina down several times and landed a lot of punches when she did. A popular fighter in her own right, Higashi addressed a crowd of supporters afterwards and joked about King Reina’s pre-fight comments that she was going to kill her. Joined by her son in the cage, the single-mother joked that since King Reina said she was going to kill her, she’s looking for someone to help take care of her son, which was met by a lot of laughter from the crowd.

After the event, Saeki spoke highly of Higashi, but was also critical of King Reina.

Mika Nagano chokes out Kate Lotus

Roughly 6 months ago, Kate Lotus moved to Tokyo and she has been training at K-Clann with the likes of Seika Izawa, Ushiku, and King Reina. As a result of this hard training, she actually lost some weight so this match marked her Strawweight debut. Across from her was the 38-year-old Mika Nagano, a former staple of the division in Jewels, who proceeded to give the younger Lotus a rough welcome, submitting her with a mounted guillotine early in the second round. Of her 14 submissions to date, this was her first guillotine choke and only the second non-armbar finish of her career.

Having just turned 24, Kate, a former bodybuilder, has been competing in MMA for close to a year and a half now. In that time, she has generated a lot of interest and developed a fanbase, which Nagano addressed in her post-fight speech, saying that she can see Kate becoming a leader of the sport. Nagano is the most expereinced opponent that Kate has faced to date and with Japan having a shallow Straweight division at the moment, it will be interesting to see who she faces next. Deep Jewels may need to bring in foreign talent for Kate to face, if she plans to stay at Strawweight. Nagano for her part told the crowd that she is just going to take it one fight at a time, so she can compete without any regrets.

Results

• Rin Nakai defeated Shizuka Sugiyama via Armbar at 4:53 of RD 1 to become the Flyweight Champion
• Saori Oshima defeated Moeru Suda via Double Wristlock at 2:58 of RD 1 to retain the Atomweight Championship
• Yoko Higashi defeated King Reina via UD to become the Featherweight Champion
• Mika Nagano defeated Kate Lotus via Mounted Guillotine at 0:57 of RD 2
• Momoka Yamazaki defeated Kyoka Chibisai via UD
• Rin Nakai defeated Te-a via Armbar at 4:43 of RD 2
• Yuka Okutomi defeated Mana via UD (Amateur)

The Entrance Music

• Rin Nakai –> Metis, Mi Strong Woman
• Shizuka Sugiyama –> Momoiro Clover Z, Hashire!
• Saori Oshima –> Ryokuoushoku Shakai, Mela!
• Moeri Suda –> Everglow, Dun Dun
• Yoko Higashi –> Flow, Melos
• King Reina –> Biohazard 6 Main Theme
• Mika Nagano –> Ayumi Hamasaki, Blue Bird
• Kate Lotus –> P!nk, F**kin’ Perfect 
• Momoka Yamazaki –> Hump Back, 拝啓、少年よ
• Kyoka Chibisai –> フィンガー5, 学園天国 
• Te-a –> Awich featuring Anarchy, Yacchi Maina

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