PANCRASE announced today that Emi Fujino vs Amy Montenegro has been added to the May 25 show at Studio Coast. This will be at Strawweight. If you recall, PANCRASE announced a few months ago a talent sharing agreement with Invicta. They made a big deal out of it. I said at the time and I still think this is window dressing to make it look like PANCRASE owner Masakazu Sakai is doing something new when all he is really doing is what he has done since he has owned PANCRASE, bringing over foreign fighters to lose. It's just that with talent sharing, it means he's saving a few bucks. He said at the time that he wanted to develop PANCRASE women's divisions. But he has never done that and he's not doing that now. Look, Emi Fujino is a decent but not elite fighter. And she's 37 years old. She is not the answer to developing the future of women's MMA in Japan. She's part of the past. And she was never that good anyway. Her record is 21-10. For the last couple of years she has fought mostly for ROAD FC with a 4-1-1NC record. As has been typical of Fujino's career, that one loss was a big one to Chinese fighter Weili Zhang. Her wins have been over fighters she should beat like Brazilian Aline Sattelmeyer. Emi is a midcard fighter and she has never won over a higher competition level. I think Emi should beat Amy Montenegro. You have probably seen Amy in Invicta and TUF 23. She's 34 years old and she trains at Gracie Barra in Lynwood, WA. Her record is 8-3 and 2-2 in Invicta. But one of those wins was one of the worst ref screwups in MMA history. It was so bad that Celine Haga is suing the Missouri AC to get the decision reversed. Amy also lost in the first round of TUF 23. She's typical of what Japanese promoters tend to do with foreign fighters. They bring them over to lose. So considering what Sakai said when he made the Invicta announcement, this fight is a waste of time and the whole deal is window dressing.
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