Kanna Asakura faces champ Tomo Maesawa at DEEP JEWELS 23
Recent RIZIN title-challenger Kanna Asakura is set to return to the ring in March when she heads to DEEP JEWELS to take on their atomweight champion, Tomo Maesawa, in a non-title bout.
The fight was confirmed early Wednesday.
Tomo Maesawa vs Kanna Asakura set for 3.9 DEEPJEWELS23.
Maesawa is DEEPJEWELS Atomweight Champion.
@cjsreport @WMMANews @MMARising @BasedDongeezus @Wishiguchi @Bestrafer7 @asiammaofficial @Grabaka_Hitman @mmajpn1 @Jolassanda @damadeferromma @TimWMMAToday @InvictaFights pic.twitter.com/2QsBGzOniT— Hirofumi Sugi Photographer / Lady Go！ (@_sugi2009) January 9, 2019
21-year-old Kanna Asakura (13-3) rebounded from a loss to Alyssa Garcia in her RIZIN debut by winning eight-straight fights across RIZIN and DEEP JEWELS. With wins over Saori Ishioka, Maria Oliveira, and Rena Kubota along the way, Kanna Asakura won the RIZIN Super Atomweight Grand-Prix in 2017 to become one of the biggest names in the promotion.
After the stellar run mentioned above, Asakura was given a shot at the first-ever RIZIN Super Atomweight Championship. She took on the phenomenal Ayaka Hamasaki at RIZIN 14 on NYE. It was a valiant effort, but Hamasaki won with a beautiful armbar in round two.
A veteran of the DEEP/JEWELS organization for the better part of a decade, the three-fight win streak Tomo Maesawa (12-8) is currently on is her best run in nearly five years. The Reversal Gym representative followed up a 2017 loss to Satomi Takano by winning three-straight bouts in 2018.
Maesawa won two-straight in dominant fashion before defeating DEEP atomweight title-holder Mina Kurobe in early December to win the title. Prior to this fight, Master Japan’s Kurobe had only lost to Hamasaki, Ham, Sugiyama, and Yamaguchi. Some of the division’s best fighters of all time.
This event will be DEEP 88 Impact x DEEP JEWELS 23, and the show is supposed to be loaded with champions and RIZIN vets. On the Impact portion, expect Roque Martinez, Yuki Motoya, and Haruo Ochi. On the JEWELS portion, along with Kanna and Maesawa, expect King Reina, Kana Watanabe, Nanaka Kawamura, Emi Tomimatsu, and more.
The promotion will also reach out to Alyssa Garcia & Rin Nakai, according to reports.
