V.V. Mei Yamaguchi vs. Mika Nagano

One of the more interesting fights on the upcoming JEWELS 17 card is that between V.V. Mei Yamaguchi and Mika Nagano. Both fighters are coming off of loses as V lost to Seo Hee Ham and Mika lost to Megumi Fujii. Let's take a look at my breakdown of the two fighters.

Name: Mei Yamaguchi
Age: 28
Height: 153cm/5'0
Weight: 53 kg/ 115
Record: 8-3-1 (4 wins by submission, all losses by decision) 5-3 Shoot Boxing

Important Facts:

1. Has beaten higher level competition than Mika, as she holds a submission win over Yuka Tsuji and Saori Ishioka.

2. 2/3 of V's losses are split decision losses in the horrible 2 round system.

3. V's experience in Shoot Boxing and her Karate background will give her a significant striking advantage over Mika.





Name: Mika Nagano
Age: 27
Height: 161/ 5'3
Weight: 52 kg/ 114
Record: 8-5 ( 6 wins by submission, 1 loss by submission)

1. Before her MMA career, Mika was a nationally ranked wrestler in Japan and she has relied heavily upon her wrestling skills in her MMA career.

2. All of her submission victories have come by way of armbar.

3. In their rematch she was able to escape Fujii's submission attempts and got her back at one point.

4. Has been improving her game and faced top competition.




Charlie's pick: V.V. Mei by Decision

As the fight is only 2 rounds (damn you), I don't think that V will have enough time to finish Mika but I do think that she will win the decision. In Mika's last fight, while she looked better on the ground than she has in the past, her lack of stand up skills was really revealed by Fujii who battered her with boxing combinations. V's Shoot Boxing/Karate experience will give her an edge on the feet and her solid Jiu Jitsu skills should allow her to defend against Mika's submission attempts and allow her to counter Mika's wrestling.

What does Mika have to do to win:

In order to win this fight Mika needs to employ and effective yet boring game plan. She needs to use her better wrestling ability to take V down and keep her on her back. As long as she grinds away in top control she should be able to walk away with the decision. Her armbar submissions have worked primarily against lower level competition and at this point in her career her opponents have to see it coming.






Here is a nice picture that the two took during a meeting. This should be a fun fight and I look forward to watching it live.

V's Blog

Mika's Blog

There is also the unique opportunity to sponsor V.V. Mei here









Charlies prediction record 0-1 ( How was I supposed to know the best RENA we have seen would show up lol)