Megumi Fujii stud
ent Ayaka Hamazaki indicated that she may be following in the footsteps of her mentor as she stood toe-to-toe with one of the best kickboxers in women’s MMA in Seo Hee Ham, and battered and bruised Miku Matsumoto‘s former teammate Sakura Nomura to become the first Jewels lightweight champion at the promotion’s end-of-year event on Friday night at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo.
In the finals of “Rough Stone” rookie tournaments, Kikuyo Ishikawa and Hiroko Kitamura edged past their respective opponents to bring home the gold ,but it was 16-year-old Mizuki Inoue that really impressed. The young kickboxer-turned-mixed martial artist dominated and finished a much older opponent for the second time in two outings to win her first MMA title.
Leading Japanese women’s promoter Jewels held its 10th event Sunday at Shinkiba 1st Ring, Tokyo with the rookie tournament style “Rough Stone GP” being the focus with semifinal bouts in three different weight classes.