Mika Nagano and Saori Ishioka on being underdogs

Mika Nagano on top of Saori Ishioka

JEWELS held an open workout today at the DEEP dojo to promote the July 9 Shinjuku FACE show which I believe is sold out. There are still standing room seats available. Saori Ishioka and Mika Nagano have been touring the media rounds all week. Ishioka will face the returning Yuka Tsuji and Nagano will face Megumi Fujii. So they did some grappling and then spoke to the media. Obviously they don't usually train together but both said they were looking forward to it and were motivated to have fun. Nagano says she expects to have butterflies in her stomach before her fight with Fujii. She says she's been working on her defense but she has no illusions about Fujii. It will be difficult. Ishioka says she has always wanted to face Tsuji. She has only fought under Special Rules once and that was against Fujii. She went to train at the Zendokai branch in Laos for a month. She says she worked on her striking and would like to get a knockout. Both know they are underdogs and have mixed feelings about fighting two legends of women's MMA. But they also said that they are motivated when they find out the show is sold out. They appreciate the fan support and vow to put on a good show. JEWELS also added another kickboxing match and a couple of amateur matches to round out the card.