Japan’s JEWELS MMA will now be renamed “DEEP JEWELS” as of August, according to a press release Saturday.
The all female promotion will have a closer relationship with it’s brother organization DEEP MMA according to an announcement made by DEEP president Shigeru Saeki. Also the promotion will be run by Saeki, with Jewels president Yuichi Ozono stepping down to pursue career opprotunites outside of MMA.
JEWELS has been in operation since October 2008 and crowned it’s first champion in December 2010 in current 114 pound Queen Ayaka Hamsaki. Among those gracing JEWELS include Megumi Fujii, Hitomi Akano, and Roxanne Modafferi. They held 24 total cards in their past 4 1/2 years of operation.
As of late, DEEP has been trying to get one or two female bouts on their cards, with American Amanda Lucas the only woman with a belt in the organization at the present time. Three other champions were crowned over the years, but DEEP phased out their women’s divisions in 2008. Lucas was crowned their open weight champ in 2011, with no clear division or fighters vying for title shots.
The weight classes DEEP will bring in first is at 105 pounds (strawweight) and 115 pounds (strawweight). Both 114 pound champ Ayaka Hamasaki and newly crowned 106 pound champ Seo Hee Ham will be the last JEWELS champions in their respective divisions as new champs will be crown in tournaments. The DEEP 115 pound championship tournament will start on November.
DEEP plans on doing all female cards, which will serve as jumping points to develop contenders for the upper tear stars and champions, who will appear on the main DEEP cards with the men.
The current relationship with InvictaFC will stay intact, with more American stars being brought over.
The first official DEEP JEWELS card will be August 31, with JEWELS star Shizuka Sugiyama fighting on the main DEEP card July 20 against a yet-to-be-name opponent.
Filed under: MMA
