Japan's top
female MMA fighter, Megumi "Mega Megu" Fujii, fell to defeat for only the second
time in her storied career at Bellator Fighting Championships 69 on May 18 in
Lake Charles, La. Fujii dropped a close but unanimous decision to American Top
Team standout Jessica "Jag" Aguilar in a featured 115-pound matchup on the
card.Aguilar (14-4 MMA, 4-1 BFC) landed a nice right hook early in the fight but then found herself on the mat after a takedown from Fujii (25-2 MMA, 3-2 BFC). Aguilar defended well and got back to her feet, where the fighters exchanged strikes. Aguilar tripped Fujii and struck with knees to the body and punches from the top, but had to fight off an armbar in the final minute.
Round two was contested on the feet, where Aguilar looked to hold a slight edge with her quick punching combinations, and the final round was all Fujii. She took Aguilar down early on and spent most of the round on top in Aguilar's half-guard. Aguilar tried for an armbar and was active from the bottom, but Fujii kept her pinned down and landed more punches shortly before the bout came to a close.
Despite the close nature of the fight, the cageside judges were united in their verdict. All three favored Aguilar's striking over Fujii's takedown and submission attempts in round one. Scores were 29-28 across the board for Aguilar, who has won nine of her past ten fights. Fujii, who opened her career with 22 straight wins, has tasted defeat in two of five bouts since.
Four more bouts added to Invicta FC 2 in July
Invicta Fighting Championships will stage its second all-female fight card on July 28 in Kansas City, Kan. The event is headlined by a bantamweight bout between 2004 Olympic silver medalist Sara McMann (5-0) and submission specialist Shayna "The Queen of Spades" Baszler (14-6). On Sunday, four more fights were announced for the card.
In one of two bantamweight additions, Strikeforce veteran Amanda "Lioness of the Ring" Nunes (6-2) faces Russian prospect Milana Dudieva (8-1). Nunes looks to rebound from a second-round TKO loss to Alexis Davis in September. All six of her wins have come via knockout. Dudieva has won eight straight fights and is coming off of a 24-second victory this past month.
A second 135-pound showdown pits Brazilian standout Vanessa Porto (14-4) against BodogFIGHT and EliteXC veteran Kelly "Blood Red" Kobold (18-3-1). Porto has won seven of her past eight fights and captured the inaugural Pink Fight 132-pound women's title in April. Meanhwile, Kobold in 2011 returned from a lengthy hiatus and earned a quick submission win. Both fighters are proven finishers and they have combined for 29 victories inside the distance.
Rounding out the weekend additions to Invicta FC 2 was a strawweight bout between talented wrestler Carla Esparza (6-2) and jiu-jitsu specialist Sarah "White Tiger" Schneider (6-5) and a flyweight battle between pro debutants Jocelyn "Lights Out" Lybarger (4-2 amateur) and Canadian Cheryl Chan (6-2 amateur).
Additional matchups will be announced for the event in the coming week.
Stephanie Frausto, Darla Harris victorious at Women's FC 1
Following in her sister Zoila's footsteps, 21-year-old Stephanie "Macaquinha" Frausto (3-4) captured her first mixed-martial-arts title on May 12 at "Women's Fighting Championship 1" in Casper, Wy. Frausto submitted Diana "Dynamite" Rael (3-3) to become the first WFC atomweight champion.
Frausto scored with a series of knees in the first half of round one that forced Rael to shoot in for a takedown. Frausto sprawled in response and took Rael's back. She first looked to set up a rear-naked choke, then moved to mount and blasted Rael with punches and hammerfists from the top. The referee did not intervene, so Frausto locked on an armbar that forced Rael to tap out at the 3:25 mark of the opening round.
In other professional action on the card, Darla "Train Wreck" Harris (3-0) kept her unbeaten record intact with a unanimous decision victory over Stephanie "The Scrapper" Skinner (1-4). Scores were 29-28 and 30-27 twice for Harris, who spent much of the bout on top in side control. Skinner put on a game performance in defeat and threatened with numerous submissions throughout the fight, but Harris escaped each time and landed some nice ground and pound that left no doubt in the judges' minds.
The WFC 1 undercard featured five amateur bouts including three title tilts:
- Katie Moerke def. Cassandra Robb via TKO (retirement) - Round 2, 3:00
- Margaret "Brutal" Bloom def. Staci Vega via TKO (punches) - Round 4, 0:31
- Liliana Orozco def. Ali Kistler via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Haelle Smith def. Brittney Elkin via technical submission (armbar) - Round 1, 2:59
- Rosa Acevedo def. Denice Miller via submission (guillotine choke) - Round 1, 1:02
Rin Nakai, Kikuyo Ishikawa earn wins at Pancrase in Okinawa
Final Valkyrie open-weight champion Rin Nakai (11-0-1) made a successful return to action on Sunday night at "Pancrase Progress Tour 6" in Okinawa, Japan. Nakai dominated professional wrestling veteran Kyoko Kimura (2-1-1) en route to a first-round submission win. The bout was Nakai's first since a contentious split draw in September.
Kimura had success with jabs and leg kicks early in the bout, but Nakai dropped her with a counter cross and worked from side control. Nakai landed punches to set up an Achilles lock, but Kimura scrambled out. Nakai kept her down and moved to mount, where she battered Kimura with punches and secured a fight-ending armbar at the 4:32 mark of round one. Nakai will likely make her U.S. debut in the coming months.
Also on the Pancrase card, Okinawa's first female mixed martial artist, Kikuyo Ishikawa (7-3), took a clear-cut unanimous decision victory over 16-year-old Shino VanHoose (3-1). Ishikawa controlled the striking exchanges with a varied arsenal of kicks and landed solid punches from VanHoose's guard on the ground. The two-round bout went to the judges, who returned scores of 20-18 across the board for Ishikawa. The 28-year-old has won five of her past six.
Jewels debuts in Osaka on May 26
Japan's leading all-female MMA promotion, Jewels, travels outside of Tokyo for the first time at "Jewels: 19th Ring" on May 26 in Osaka. The card is headlined by a Jewels lightweight queen (115-pound) championship bout between Ayaka Hamasaki (6-0) and Yuka "Vale Tudo Queen" Tsuji (23-2).
Hamasaki makes the second defense of her title after retaining the belt in a rematch with Seo Hee Ham in December. She has yet to taste defeat and is one of Japan's top female prospects. Tsuji, a former Smackgirl and Valkyrie champion, returned from a 17-month injury hiatus with a unanimous decision victory in July.
In other action, Jewels featherweight queen (106-pound) champion Naho "Sugi Rock" Sugiyama (7-0) faces former Valkyrie champ Yasuko "Ikuko" Tamada (12-7-3) in a non-title rematch. The fighters first faced off in Nov. 2008 when Sugiyama upset Tamada in the Valkyrie cage. Sugiyama has won four fights since. Her Jewels title will not be on the line against the struggling Tamada, who has suffered three straight defeats.
To date, three more fights have been confirmed for 19th Ring. Mika "Future Princess" Nagano (8-7) faces Anna Saito (1-9), Sachiko "Sachi" Yamamoto (9-6-1) battles Sadae "Manhoef" Suzumura (2-1-1) and Yukiko Seki (10-21) takes on Yuko Kawabata (0-4). Additional bouts will be announced this week.
Quick results
Sarah "Too Sweet" Alpar (3-1) defeated Monica Lovato (5-3) via split decision after five rounds at "King of the Cage: Nightmare" on May 12 in Santa Fe, N.M. Alpar, the reigning Rumble on the River women's champion, captured the KOTC women's flyweight championship with the victory. Lovato suffered her second straight defeat, but showed few signs of ring rust despite close to two years away from the sport.
Marta Chojnoska (1-0) defeated Paulina "Pika" Suska (1-4-1) via submission (scarf hold armlock) at the 42-second mark of round one at "KSW 19: Pudzianowski vs. Sapp" on May 12 in Lodz, Poland. The fight was the first women's bout in KSW history. Chojnoska took Suska down early on and landed punches from the top in the scarf hold position. She trapped Suska's left arm between her legs and bent it back until Suska was forced to submit while in obvious pain.
Fallon Fox (1-0) defeated Elisha "Knuckles" Helsper (0-3) via TKO (injury) at the 2:00 mark of round one at "King of the Cage: Wild Card" on May 17 in Worley, Idaho.
Meg Gallagher (2-0) defeated Erin Nota (0-1) via unanimous decision after three rounds at "King of the Cage Australia 2" on May 18 in Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia.
Joanna Jedrzejczyk (1-0) defeated Sylwia Juskiewicz (0-1) via unanimous decision after two rounds at "Szczerek Fight Team: MMA Fight Night Diva SPA" on May 19 in Kolobrzeg, Poland.
(Pictured: Jessica Aguilar)
MMAjunkie.com publishes the Women's MMA Report every other Monday. Its author, Robert Sargent, is a veteran MMA journalist who also runs MMARising.com. Feel free to email us at news [AT] mmajunkie.com with any questions, news tips or suggestions.
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