Esui to make pro martial arts debut at July 31 JEWELS show

Esui, Shizuka Sugiyama

Last week I reported that former Ibuki wrestler Esui was training in MMA and won her amateur grappling debut. It looks like JEWELS got wind of that too as they held a press conference today to announce that Esui will make her professional martial arts debut on the July 31 Shinjuku FACE show in a Shoot Boxing match contracted for 62kg against Shizuka Sugiyama. Esui is being billed as the very first Mongolian professional female martial artist. She became a pro wrestler a few years ago when Ibuki owner Mariko Yoshida went to Mongolia on a talent scouting trip. Esui retired from pro wrestling when Ibuki closed in February. She has been training in MMA at SMASH with former Pride fighter Akira Shoji. Shoji was at the press conference and said that he was introduced to Esui at the beginning of 2010 by a Mongolian sumo wrestler who is friends with her. He says she is progressing well and participating in Shoot Boxing will help her with her striking skills. JEWELS owner Yuichi said he had heard that Esui might be interested in fighting in JEWELS. So he went to see her match at the Amateur DEEP show and dedided to put something together for her. Sugiyama said that Shoot Boxing will help her focus on her striking, an area that needs a lot of work. She has been training in Shoot Boxing at the Caesar Gym for the last month. She said she once saw a picture of Esui on Fuuka's blog but is not familiar with her otherwise. Esui says she has watched Sugiyama's matches on Youtube. She says her plan is to go out quickly, knock her down and then crush her. Sugiyama shot back that she'll throw Esui out of the ring. You can see in the pic that Esui is bigger than Sugiyama so 62kg might be a little light for her. It should be interesting to see how Esui does in her martial arts debut.