Mika Nagano’s taking it a fight at a time

This Sunday, the popular Mika Nagano will face Tomoko Inoue at Deep Jewels 38 at the New Pier Hall in Tokyo, Japan. The 38 year old veteran of 30 fights is coming off of an exciting finish over Kate Lotus, where she got the first front choke finish of her career, which was surprising since 12 of her previous 13 finishes were via armbar. For those who are unfamiliar with her history, Mika was at one time considered by many to be the most popular woman competing in MMA in Japan and as the face of Jewels, she helped build the promotion into what it is today.

Helping build Jewels

In order to understand Mika’s role in helping to build the Jewels brand, it is important to understand the women’s MMA scene at that time. It is a story of failed promotions. Initial waves were made by Remix in 2000, which morphed into Smackgirl in 2001. Smackgirl then became the premier women’s-only promotion in Japan, while promotions like AX (2001-2002) and Love Impact (2004) came and went. However, they suffered from crippling sponsorship and scheduling problems, which led to Yuichi Ozono acquiring the rights to the promotion in 2008. Working closely with Deep, who would eventually acquire the new brand, he launched Jewels in November of 2008. However, another promotion, called Valkyrie (2008-2010) also emerged and attracted some high profile talent. They actually held their first event only 8 days before Jewels 1st Ring.

Before fighting for Jewels, Mika fought for Smackgirl twice, going 1-1. She came from an amateur wrestling background, where she was ranked second in the country in high school and finished fourth in the Queen’s Cup, when she was in college. Armed with her wrestling and modeling background, she quickly became one of the more popular fighters in Jewels, until she, as Ozono tells us, became the most popular fighter and the face of the promotion. According to Ozono, the fans connected to her story and her hard work to improve her skills.

Over 4 1/2 years, she fought for the promotion 18 times, more than anyone else and partook in various marketing opportunities to help bring eyes to the promotion. When asked about her busy schedule, Mika tells us, “It wasn’t hard to be that active, I don’t think I would call it pressure, but I had a desire to please those that were watching us.” When asked about her role in building a promotion that still exists as Deep Jewels, she humbly told us, “Each sparkling jewel has various colors, and when those powers are combined, they make a shining appearance that can only be seen [now] in Deep Jewels. I’ve been working as one of them.”

On a random side note, she does tell us that her matches with Celine Haga, who had the second most fights in the promotion, and Ushizuka stick out to her the most.

Mika retires

At a press conference in Tokyo in December of 2013, Mika Nagano announced her intention to retire from MMA. She cited losing in the opening round of the Deep Jewels Grand-Prix, not being able to win a championship, an inability to focus on training, and wanting to start the next phase of her life as the deciding factors in making this decision. Originally, she was scheduled to have a retirement match that following February, but this was canceled when she became pregnant. Instead, she was joined in the ring for a 10 count by Kazuhito Sakae, the former All Japan Women’s Wrestling coach and Mika’s mentor from her wrestling days at university.

Returning to competition

In August of 2016, after 2 1/2 years, Mika Nagano returned to competition. She started going to the gym after giving birth but the training slowly switched from fitness to competing. Before she knew it, she was sparring again. However, it was difficult to balance being a mom and a fighter, but since her husband also trained at the gym, they would go as a family. When asked why she decided to come back, Mika told E-Fight that she came back because she likes martial arts and that she was inspired by her former rival Saori Ishioka, who returned to competition after getting married and giving birth herself.

While Mika has returned to competition, as she said after her most recent victory, she’s been taking it a fight at time. This explains the gaps. For example, before fighting Kate Lotus earlier this year, she hadn’t fought for 3 1/2 years. When asked about the fight, Mika told us, “I’d been training with Kate for awhile, so when I got the offer, I had mixed feelings about it, but it was a great honor to be able to fight a very popular fighter like Kate.” When asked specifically about the finish, she added, “Up till now, I’ve mainly practiced armbars, but [recently] I’ve challenged myself with other techniques.”

Deep Jewels 38

This Sunday, Mika will face Tomoko Inoue, who at 173cm (5’8) and armed with a BJJ brown belt, towers over Mika who stands at 161cm (5’1). When asked about the fight, Mika predicts that, “at first it’ll be striking match, but it’ll eventually become a grappling match. I don’t know if I’ll go for a new submission, but I will not give up and I will go for them.” With a win over Tomoko, Mika will be 2-0 at Strawweight this year, but with the advent of Rizin, the division has dried up, so it will be interesting to see what she decides to do in the future. She has flirted with the idea of dropping to Atomweight in the past, alluding to the fact that she walks around at Strawweight.

Mika’s message to the readers

“Please come and watch Deep Jewels on September 11th“

How to watch

• Japan Time: September 11th, 2022 at 11:50 AM
• US EST: September 10th, 2020 at 10:50 PM
• Advance Ticket: ¥2,500
• Day of Ticket: ¥3,000
• Guest Commentator: Seika Izawa
• PPV Link: Event SPWN

You can follow Sogo-Kaku on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.