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| Hitomi Akano, Megumi Fujii |
Though it has been known for a while that she had fought her last fight, Hitomi Akano announced yesterday on her blog that she has officially retired. It looks like she just wanted to slip away quietly. But I assume that Megumi Fujii told her to say something official. Hitomi said on her blog that after her loss to Alexis Davis at last July's Invicta show, she decided that was the end. She apologized for not saying something sooner. Hitomi is from Osaka but moved to Tokyo and met Megumi Fujii in college. Megumi talked Hitomi into training with her and the two have been together for over twenty years. Hitomi lost in her MMA debut to Megumi Yabushita on the Nov. 26, 2004 G-Shooto show. Then she won seven in a row including a win over Debi Purcell on the Feb. 15, 2006 Smackgirl show. Hitomi was the Smackgirl Middleweight Champion. When Smackgirl was purchased by JEWELS in 2008, Hitomi wanted to retire. But Megumi talked her into staying. Hitomi's record is 18-10 but she was always very competitive. Promoters knew they were getting a quality fighter. She was known for pulling crazy submissions out of nowhere. She is also a musician and as far as I know, she is the only MMA fighter to come to the cage to her own music. I still think Hitomi should be part of Megumi Fujii's October retirement ceremony. If she doesn't participate in that, she will regret it later. On behalf of fans everywhere, thank you Hitomi Akano for entertaining us and you will be missed. The accompanying picture was taken on Wednesday at AACC.
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