Asakura beats Ishioka to take final spot in RIZIN women’s GP
Japanese WMMA pioneer Saori Ishoka and 19-year-old Kanna Asakura fought to determine who will be taking the final spot left for RIZIN’s first ever women’s GP.
Japan’s only all women’s MMA promotion DEEP JEWELS held an event at the Shinjuku FACE hall, where the 29-year-old Japanese WMMA pioneer Saori Ishoka and 19-year-old Kanna Asakura squared off to determine who will be taking the final spot left for RIZIN’s first ever women’s GP. Both fighters are coming off of wins from their fights in RIZIN Yokohama, with Ishioka winning by submission and Asakura winning by unanimous decision.
Asakura dominated the fight with perfectly timed takedowns and throws submission attempts to ground and pound. Ishioka did everything she could to keep the wrestler at distance by throwing crisp jabs and powerful kicks, but had little to offer against Asakura’s aggressive takedowns and top control. Asakura showed improvement in her overall fight game and explosiveness in power.
I was very concerned and nervous about this fight, because a lot was at stake, and Ishioka is an extremely tough veteran,” said Asakura in the post-fight interview. “In a perfect world, I wanted to finish the fight and enter the GP with my head high, but she was very strong. Ishioka was in this sport since the beginning, when nobody cared about women’s fighting, and since I’m just a newcomer, people may think that there are more fighters who belong in the tournament than me, but I promise you that I will proudly represent Ishioka and everybody who deserves the recognition, and win this tournament. Ishioka san, thank you very much for fighting me.
Asakura will be facing Poland’s Silwia Juskiewicz (7-4) in the opening round of the Super Atomweight tournament.
Confirmed bouts:
[Women’s Super Atom weight GP opening round]
RENA vs Andy Nguyen
Miyuu Yamamoto vs Irene Rivera
Kanna Asakura vs Sylwia Juskiewicz
Alyssa Garcia vs Maria Oliveira
[Bantamweight GP opening round Bracket B]
Shintaro Ishiwatari vs Akhmed Musakaev
Erson Yamamoto vs Manel Kape
TBA vs TBA
[Grappling match] Kazushi Sakuraba vs Dan Henderson
RIZIN FIGHTING FEDERATION WORLD GRAND-PRIX 2017 Bantamweight Tournament & Women’s Super Atom weight tournament – AUTUMN
Doors open at 12:30 pm
Opening Ceremony at 2:00 pm
October 15th
Fukuoka Marine Messe
Tickets can be purchased at http://www.stubhub.com
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