Women take center stage at Pancrase 341 -

This Sunday, Pancrase will hold their first numbered event of the year at Tachikawa Stage Garden in Tokyo, Japan. On the card are three title fights, as well as a plethora of women’s matches, showcasing the growth their divisions have undergone. Fighters set to participate include the champion Takayo Hashi, veteran and Rizin commentator Shizuka Sugiyama, the former Shooto champion Satomi Takano, the popular Sayako, the up-and-coming Honoka Shigeta, the always game Nøri, and the promising up-and-comer Fumika Watanabe. With 15 matches on the card, a lot of action is set to go down hopefully setting a good tone for the rest of the year.

Sugiyama to make Pancrase debut

In what will be her 30th pro-MMA fight, Shizuka Sugiyama is set to make her Pancrase debut this weekend when she steps into the cage for the first time in roughly two years. A popular fighter who has long served as one of the faces of WMMA in Japan, her addition to Pancrase’s Flyweight division does a lot to elevate the division.

If she wins this weekend, it doesn’t seem ridiculous to say that she should be next in line to face the winner of Hashi and Honoka for the title. Across the cage from her will be Raika Emiko, a staple of the division, who Shizuka actually faced before, back in 2014, when she won with an armbar. Interestingly, despite being 37, Shizuka is still 12 years younger than Emiko.

As a former boxing champion, Raika is going to look to keep Sugiyama off of her and land punches when she can, while Sugiyama will likely look to get it to the ground whenever an opportunity presents itself.

Honoka to challenge Hashi for Flyweight Title

In one of the best overall performances of 2023, Honoka Shigeta not only made her pro-debut, she managed to win three fights in impressive fashion, launching herself to the forefront of Japan’s flyweight division. Armed with a Judo background, the powerful grappler throws suplexes like she’s Kuramoto and seems to be improving at an impressive rate. She trains at The Blackbelt Japan (the rebranded Paraestra Kashiwa) with the likes of Karen and Kanna Asakura and has already made it clear that she wants to win a Rizin title, so a win here, where she would be crowned the Queen of Pancrase would be a big step towards making that a reality. Skill aside, the young fighter has quickly climbed to the forefront of the scene and seems to be developing a fanbase.

Across the cage from Honoka with be Takayo Hashi, the 46 year old champion who runs a tonkatsu shop when she isn’t beating up prospects half her age. While a strong fighter, she hasn’t been the most active, having only fought three times since 2020, so it will be interesting to see how she looks come Sunday.

Sayako and Satomi to battle for the Inaugural Atomweight Title

Last year when it was announced that Satomi Takano was joining Pancrase to take part in their inaugural Atomweight championship tournament, she instantly became one of the favorites to win and in the opening round, the former Shooto champion used her grappling to keep Zenny Huang from getting started and coasted to victory. Having lost to Zenny earlier, Sayako proved naysayers wrong when she beat V.V. Mei in her opening match, setting up this final with Satomi, someone she’s trained with regularly in the past. It is worth noting, that Sayako is likely responsible for the creation of this division and title and has a large fanbase. Win or lose, her contribution shouldn’t be forgotten.

While both fighters possess grappling backgrounds, Satomi is clearly the more accomplished grappler and with Sayako liking to brawl and lean into her power, we should expect to see her try to keep this standing, where Takano is most uncomfortable. Satomi for her part, will likely look to get this to the mat as quick as she can.

Nøri returns to MMA, set to face Fumika

In the first women’s bout of the day, Pancrase regular Nøri returns to MMA after taking some time off to get back into pro-wrestling with LLPW-X. A popular fighter who’s appeared on TV and just happens to be the related to Karen and Darani, Nøri will likely look to keep this fighting so she can use her Taekwondo-esque striking. Across from her will be Fumika, who lost in her pro-debut against Raika Emiko. Even though she lost, I was very impressed with her performance, considering she was striking with a former boxing champion. In defeat, she showed guys, toughness, and a refusal to back down. She was apparently injured in that fight and that’s why its taken her so long to get back in the cage. She also switched gyms and now appears to be training at Fighter’s Flow with the likes of Kana Watanabe. If her first fight is any indicator, we should expect an exciting striking brawl when these two face off.