Seika Izawa enhanced her reputation as one of the most formidable prospects in Asia at Deep-Jewels 41. She submitted Suwanan Boonsorn in the opening round of their super atomweight fight at the New Pier Hall.
This was a non title fight that looked risky for the reigning Rizin 108lbs champion. Boonsorn was coming off a win over Emi Sato at Deep-Jewels 28 and also holds a submission victory over UFC strawweight star Loma Lookboonmee.
The fight started with a flurry of action as Izawa closed in on the Thai who responded with a well-timed front kick. Showing incredible reflexes, the 25-year-old grabbed Amp’s left jab and swiftly swung her leg, catching her opponent’s neck in a tight guillotine choke.
Izawa pulled her opponent in and applied pressure but ‘Amp’ was able to fight off the submission attempt. She managed to free her head from Izawa’s grasp while maintaining control of her opponent’s back.
Undeterred, Izawa wasted no time transitioning to target the 26 year old’s right arm. As Boonsorn stood up, she launched a series of low kicks aimed at the Japanese fighter’s back.
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Precarious situation
But Izawa was able to grab a leg and take the Thai down, working immediately for a guillotine. While on the bottom, Izawa switched tactics and attempted an arm bar but Boonsorn survived another precarious looking situation.
Izawa managed to establish a dominant position on the side, but her opponent refused to back down and a scramble ensued. However, Izawa’s grappling prowess shone through as she seized Amp’s right arm and applied a tight armbar.
Boonsorn was flat on her stomach with her arm outstretched. But she somehow survived again and reversed the position only to find herself caught in a triangle.
The Thai might have been in top position at this stage but the threat was coming from Izawa who landed several elbow strikes from the bottom to set up another triangle choke.
This time there was to be no escape for the durable Boonsorn who tapped at the 3:31 mark. With the win Izawa improves to 10-0 and underlines why she has emerged as the most dominant 108lber in Japan, her opponent drops to 5-4.
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Surprise announcement
Immediately after the win Izawa declared that she would be getting married next month. She is engaged to MMA veteran Kosuke Terashima and the two are set to tie the knot on June 11th.
Coincidentally they are both coming off wins by way of triangle choke. Terashima finished Rikiya Matsuzawa with the exact same submission at Deep 113 earlier this month.
Deep-Jewels 41, Tokyo, May 28th
Seika Izawa def. Suwanan Boonsorn via Submission (Triangle choke) at 3:31 of R1
Jeong Eun Park def. Moeri Suda via TKO (Punches) at 4:27 of R1
Machi Fukuda def. Yoo Jung Kim via Submission (Americana) at 2:42 of R1
Kate Oyama def. Saki Kitamura via Decision (Unanimous)
Mizuki Furuse def. Akari Kamise via Decision (Unanimous)
Yuka Okutomi def. Mana Akagi via Decision (Unanimous)
Misaki Suda def. Momoka Yoshikawa via Decision (Unanimous)
Yua Yokose def. Miyuu Tsunoda via Decision (Unanimous)
