King REINA vs Young Ji Kim added to Sept. 16 DEEP show

King REINA, Young Ji Kim

Yesterday DEEP announced that King REINA vs Young Ji Kim has been added to the Sept. 16 show at Ota Ward Gym. They also announced that there will be three women's matches on this show. King REINA's matches tend to be at Open Weight and I think that's the case with this match. Her record is 5-0. She has this pro wrestling gimmick where she walks around in a robe and a crown and carries a teddy bear. You might think that's silly for an MMA fighter but believe me when I tell you that stuff goes over big with Japanese fans. In her latest fight, she beat pro wrestler Lei'D Tapa by unanimous decision on the July 31 RIZIN show. Tapa outweighed REINA by a significant amount. The problem with REINA is there is no competition for her in Japan. So Japanese promoters are trying all kinds of things to keep her in Japan. Because fans love her gimmick. She keeps threatening to move to the US if promoters can't find opponents for her. I think it's inevitable that REINA will have to move anyway to get better training and competition. She's only 21 years old so she has plenty of time. But I don't think fighting pro wrestlers is doing her any favours. Her opponent Kim Young Ji is a pro MMA newcomer from Korea. She is 1-2 as an amateur on Road FC shows. She's probably in over her head. But like I said, promoters are having big problems finding opponents for REINA. Last week, DEEP announced that Kanako Murata will face Yukari Nabe in a Strawweight bout. Kanako is an amateur wrestling champ who was recruited to RIZIN by former Olympic wrestling champ Saori Yoshida. Her record is 5-1. But that loss was an ill advised match against Rin Nakai. Kanako looked terrible in that fight. She's been in a funk since then. She recently won over Aussie Clare Fryer on a PANCRASE show. But she didn't look good. RIZIN is waiting for her to snap out of it. Yukari is 29 years old. Her record is 2-1 but she hasn't beaten anyone decent yet. And her loss was to Shizuka Sugiyama who isn't very good. This fight is at 55kg and Yukari normally fights at 59kg. The third women's fight on this show will feature veteran Emi Fujino but the opponent hasn't been announced yet. With three women's matches on a DEEP show, why is DEEP JEWELS still open? I've been saying for two years that DEEP JEWELS should close and fold it into DEEP.