Friday, September 07, 2007

Tsuji wins, two title changes on Sept. 6 Smackgirl show


The whole purpose of the Sept. 6 Korakuen Hall Smackgirl show was for Yuka Tsuji to avenge her only career defeat to Brazilian fighter Anna Michele Tavares. There were also a couple more title matches and Next Cinderella tournament finals. They had a good crowd with 1,596 fans in attendance. It doesn't change that Smackgirl is unable to pull the trigger on Yuka Tsuji vs Megumi Fujii. This would be their biggest fight ever but it seems more likely to happen in Bodog Fight now that Fujii is working there. Also, the time has come for Smackgirl to finally adopt full MMA rules. The silly gloves and the limited ground & pound hurts them internationally. I've called for this before and will continue to call for it until Smackgirl wises up.





It looks like Yuka Tsuji had more trouble than usual with Anna Michele Tavares. Tavares started out with a punch and then took Tsuji down. She mounted her and got a few shots in but of course the Smackgirl rules forced then up at 30 seconds. Tavares takes Tsuji down again but this time Tsuji is able to kick her way out. We don't normally see punching power from Tsuji but she nailed Tavares with some punches and knocked her down. Tavares is back up but Tsuji goes in for the kill and after battering Tavares with more strikes, the ref stops the match at 4:47 of round one.





There were two title matches on the show. Hitomi Akano defended her Smackgirl Middleweight Title against Takayo Hashi. It looks like round one was fairly even but Hashi took control in round two. She was much more active than Akano and Akano wilted under the pressure. Takayo Hashi is the new Smackgirl Middleweight Champion by unanimous decision. Veteran Yoko Takahashi defended her Smackgirl Open Weight Title against the youngster HIROKO. They exchange strikes but HIROKO gets the edge with her longer reach. Takahashi's takedown attempts are reversed by HIROKO. This is the way the fight went. Takahashi couldn't break through HIROKO's defense. HIROKO is your new Smackgirl Open Weight Champion by unanimous decision.





So a funny thing happened before Emi Fujino's match with Yukiko Seki. You may recall that Fujino was scheduled to fight pro wrestler Fuuka but Fuuka dropped out due to a knee injury. So before the match, Fujino called out Fuuka. She accused Fuuka of faking the injury and challenged her to a match in a cage. Fujino even joked about selling herself as a heel. Fuuka's reaction to this is bewilderment and she's trying to laugh it off. But this has gotten media coverage in Japan seperate from the show. She's a little busy with her Fuuka Festival but if this doesn't go away, maybe she has to accept a match with Fujino. Fujino won over Seki by unanimous decision.





In other matches, Korean Seo Hui Han won over Ayumi "Edge" Saito by unanimous decision. Saori Ishioka won over Masako Yoshida by unanimous decision. Rin Nakai won over Aussie kickboxer Asha "The Basha" Ingeneri with an arm bar at 1:03 of round one. Why am I not surprised? V1 won the Lightweight Next Cinderella Tournament over former JD Star wrestler Emi Tomimatsu by split decision. Maho Muranami won the Flyweight Next Cinderella Tournament over Madoka Ebihara by unanimous decision. Smackgirl has a grappling tournament in a couple of weeks.

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