Namiko “Hime” Kawabata overcame a tough first round and an opponent who missed weight en route to earning her second straight win tonight at Deep Jewels 49 in Tokyo, Japan. Kawabata finished former Pancrase champion Honoka Shigeta with a triangle armbar in the 49kg main event.
In the 58kg co-feature, Yuka “Dosukoi” Okutomi made a successful return to Deep Jewels and scored a one-sided Unanimous Decision victory over Aoi Kuriyama, who was riding a four-fight winning streak. The performance was a crucial one for Okutomi, who had struggled since her last win in 2023.
Kawabata (6-4-0) fared well in the opening minute after landing a strong right hand and some stiff jabs, but Shigeta (4-2-0) closed the distance and suplexed her down to the mat. Kawabata eventually got Shigeta off of her back, but Shigeta held her in a front headlock and then a Brabo choke before finishing the round with punches and elbows to Kawabata’s face.
In the second round, Kawabata reversed a Shigeta takedown attempt into mount and she dropped punches to Shigeta’s face. Shigeta gave up her back and Kawabata continued to punch until she trapped Shigeta in a tight triangle armbar. Shigeta refused to tap out as Kawabata punched her in the face and increased the pressure on her left elbow. With Shigeta’s elbow bent back at an awkward angle, referee Naoya Uematsu had seen enough and waved off the fight at the 3:00 mark of round two.
Tonight’s victory was Kawabata’s second in a row at super atomweight following an unsuccessful run at strawweight and above. She is still best known for her upset win over Saori Oshima in March 2022, but Kawabata now has her sights set on even tougher challengers.
“I tried the triangle [at the end], but I wanted a knockout,” Kawabata said backstage following her win. “My Mouri Dojo teammates praise me when I have good parts, but they are not shy about pointing out the bad ones. I had expected that [Shigeta] would suplex me, but I needed to prove that Deep Jewels is stronger [than Pancrase]. I want to face [two-division Deep Jewels champion] Seika Izawa.”
A victorious Namiko Kawabata (left) and Yuka Okutomi (right) following Deep Jewels 49.
The co-main event was completely dominated by Okutomi (4-1-0, 1 NC), who outgrappled Kuriyama (8-6-1) for three rounds en route to a clear Unanimous Decision victory. Kuriyama’s lone success came early in the first round when she was able to knock Okutomi down with a leg kick and follow up with punches after Okutomi returned to her feet. From there on, however, Okutomi was in complete control after taking Kuriyama down and punching the side of her head while maintaining a partial back control. Each time Kuriyama stood up, Kuriyama dragged her right back down. This continued throughout rounds two and three as well, and all three judges scored the fight 30-27 in Okutomi’s favour.
“She has strong striking, so I was determined to grapple and I focused on that,” Okutomi said backstage. “I want to rebuild my fighting career because I have not had good fights recently and all of my female mentors are stronger than I am. I maintained an attitude of not giving up, even when I got tired from the continuous takedowns, and I did not allow [Kuriyama] to have any space.”
Earlier on the card, Saki Kitamura (4-4-0) evened her record with a Split Decision victory over Princess Saaya (1-3-0) in a 49kg super atomweight bout that did not appear to be as close as one scorecard suggested. Kitamura was the aggressor with straight left hands and body kicks in the opening round until Saaya landed four consecutive right hands. Kitamura attacked Saaya’s body and knocked her down with a front kick to the liver. She finished the round by taking Saaya down into side control.
Kitamura kept the forward pressure on Saaya in the second round and took her down, then punched her face until Saaya got up. She wobbled Saaya with a one-two and followed up with knees to her body. Despite Kitamura appearing to hold an edge in both rounds, all three judges scored the fight even at 19-19. Judge Nakahara awarded his Must Decision to Saaya, while judges Matsumiya and Hashimoto awarded theirs to Kitamura for the victory.
Following up on her first pro win in March, Yua Yokose (2-1-0) scored another impressive submission finish tonight in her 54kg bout against Yura Narumoto (0-2-0, 1 NC). Yokose took Narumoto down into side control and landed punches from a top-side crucifix. Narumoto briefly exploded out from the bottom, but Yokose took side control again and then attacked with a kimura that forced Narumoto to tap out at the 1:39 mark of the opening round.
In 60kg kickboxing action, Elana employed non-stop offence en route to a lopsided second-round TKO victory against Chanrina. Right from the opening bell, Elena threw rapid-fire punches and body kicks that never stopped and had Chanrina on the defensive. Chanrina was never able to mount any sustained offence and struggled to land much of anything. Elena scored a knockdown for a standing eight count in the first round, then another standing eight count in the second round, before stopping Chanrina with body kicks and punches at the 1:16 mark of round two.
Misaki Horiuchi (1-0-0 amateur) easily won her amateur strawweight MMA bout against former Rizin FF ring girl Akipi (1-2-0 amateur). Horiuchi outstruck Akipi on the feet in the first round and then further battered her with punches from mount. In the second round, Horiuchi landed more punches and held Akipi in a guillotine choke. The fight ended with Horiuchi punching from Akipi’s guard and all three judges scored the bout 20-18 in Horiuchi’s favour.
Mao Watanabe (1-0-0 amateur) upset prospect Suzu Ooi (1-1-0 amateur) in their 50kg amateur bout. Early on, Ooi secured two takedowns and she avoided a buggy choke attempt from Watanabe. Later in the round, Watanabe trapped Ooi in a triangle choke and then an armbar, but Ooi made it to the bell. Early in round two, Ooi took Watanabe down, but she left her right arm exposed and Watanabe took advantage by locking on a tight armbar from the bottom and Ooi tapped out while in obvious pain at the 55-second mark of the second round.
Opening up the card, Marin Yamabuki (1-0-0 amateur) won her debut against Mion Wachi (0-1-0 amateur) at strawweight. Yamabuki left no doubt in the judges’ minds by controlling the action throughout including knees to Wachi’s body in the opening round and a belly-down armbar attempt. Yamabuki landed more knees in the second round and punched Wachi’s body after taking her down into half-guard. Scores were 20-18 across the board for Yamabuki, who prevailed via Unanimous Decision.
“[Honoka] Shigeta needs to go to strawweight,” Deep boss Shigeru Saeki said after the event when addressing Shigeta’s weight miss. “Machi [Fukuda], [Seika] Izawa and [Si Woo] Park all fight at that weight. I don’t know about [former Deep Jewels Interim Strawweight Champion] Arisa Matsuda’s future because opportunities abroad are very limited for women outside of the UFC, so maybe she will wait until the next Road To UFC events.”
Full play-by-play for the Deep Jewels 49 card can be found here.