MIZUKI likely UFC bound after DEEP JEWELS Lightweight Championship win

Today's DEEP JEWELS show at Shinjuku FACE was again broadcast live on UStream. Typical of the shows since DEEP took the company back, there were two matches of interest and the rest was potential filler including three grappling rules matches. There was one match on the show that exceeded expectations. But the rest of the show was what I expected. Knowing that the show was weak, DEEP JEWELS matchmaker Shigeru Saeki booked Shizuka Sugiyama in a match and even booked Saori Ishioka in a grappling rules match. But Sugiyama's opponent got injured the match was scratched. And though Ishioka won her grappling match over Yukiko Seki, she looked terrible and she seemed embarrassed after the match. Please, no more grappling matches for her. The main event was a rematch from February when MIZUKI missed weight and instead of cancelling the match, Saeki made it so MIZUKI couldn't win the title. This time MIZUKI made weight and at the weigh ins, she looked like she was going to steal opponent Emi Tomimatsu's lunch money. In a pre-match interview, Emi admitted that she would need to up her game to beat MIZUKI. MIZUKI won easily. Her striking was very crisp. Emi tried to take her down but got stuffed. And then in round three, MIZUKI won with an armbar. That someone like Emi Tomimatsu was even in this position shows how low the talent level is. I understand she plans to drop to 48kg like that solves all problems. And MIZUKI won't be in DEEP JEWELS much longer. The UFC is already interested in her and they plan to bring her over in 2015. Is she too young? MIZUKI may be 19 years old but she fights like a seasoned veteran. And she will only get better. The other big match saw Ayaka Hamasaki return after knee surgery at 48kg to face Sugi Rock. Ayaka won easily by TKO at the end of round one. I expect we will see her in Invicta in 2015. At 36 years old, Sugi Rock continues to slide and she should maybe consider retirement. The best match on the show had Yuko "Amiba" Oya win a unanimous decision over Sachiko Fujimori. Amiba is one of the most popular fighters in DEEP JEWELS because of her bubbly personality. But going into this fight, her record was 7-3 and she had never beaten a top level fighter. When DEEP recently closed their dojo, Amiba moved to AACC. Maybe training with Megumi Fujii and Ayaka Hamasaki has helped her. Fujimori is an older fighter but not that experienced. But she has shown a spark in her fights. The fight went back and forth but Amiba won by unanimous decision. The show was pretty blah at that point so it really needed a good fight and a nice surprise at that. Now they have to give Amiba better competition. In the other MMA matches on the show, Mina Kurobe improved to 3-0 with a unanimous decision win over veteran Masako Yoshida. A lot of stalling in this match. And the veteran MIYOKO won over Tamaki Usui by second round armbar. Neither fighter was very good. The next DEEP JEWELS show will be in November and it will be available on UStream iPPV. Be there or be square.