Hitomi Akano is a retired Japanese female mixed martial artist. She announced her formal retirement from MMA on August 1, 2013.
Mixed martial arts weight classes are weight classes that pertain to the sport of mixed martial arts.
Satoko Shinashi is a female Japanese mixed martial artist. She is a former DEEP Flyweight champion and former Smackgirl Flyweight champion. She is tied second for the most bouts among women and is considered as one of the pioneers of women's mixed martial arts.
Yuka Tsuji is a Japanese female mixed martial artist whose nickname is Vale Tudo Queen.
Lisa Ellis is an American professional mixed martial artist. She has fought in HOOKnSHOOT, Smackgirl, DEEP, Bellator Fighting Championships, Invicta FC, and the UFC.
Jewels is a mixed martial arts organization owned by Marverous Japan Co., Ltd., focused on female fighters. It is the direct successor of Smackgirl. It has a working relationship with fellow mixed martial arts promotion Deep presided by Shigeru Saeki.
Valkyrie, sometimes styled VALKYRIE in capitals, was a women's mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion. It was the sister of Japanese MMA promotion Cage Force, both operated by Greatest Common Multiple (GCM) Communication. Contrary to other Japanese women MMA promotions at the time, it featured a cage instead of a ring and used the same venues as Cage Force.
Asami Kodera, occasionally nicknamed Asami, is a Japanese female mixed martial artist. She currently fights in the Jewels promotion, where she won the 2009 Jewels Rough Stone Grand Prix.
Hiroko Yamanaka, more commonly known simply as Hiroko and nicknamed Incomplete Queen or Cat's Eye, is a retired Japanese female mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter. She fought for Invicta FC, Strikeforce and Jewels, and was the final Smackgirl Open Weight Champion. Yamanaka announced her retirement on August 6, 2013.
Jewels 1st Ring, originally Jewels raising an army match was the inaugural mixed martial arts (MMA) event of the then newly created women's MMA promotion Jewels. The event took place on November 16, 2008 at Shinjuku Face in Kabukicho, Tokyo, Japan.
Shizuka Sugiyama, occasionally nicknamed Shiiyan (しぃやん) and The Big Newcomer of Hope, is an American-born Japanese female mixed martial artist. She previously fought in the MMA promotion Jewels and now competes for Deep.
Megumi Yabushita is a retired Japanese female mixed martial artist, kickboxer, professional wrestler and judoka. She has participated in several Japanese professional wrestling and mixed martial arts promotions. She is a Japanese national judo champion and a former Smackgirl open weight champion and tournament winner.
Jewels 10th Ring was a mixed martial arts (MMA) event held by MMA promotion Jewels. The event took place on October 10, 2010 at Shin-Kiba 1st Ring in Koto, Tokyo, Japan. It hosted the opening round of the second Rough Stone Grand Prix.
Yasuko Mogi is a Japanese female mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter. Her nicknames are Pioneer of women's Jiu-Jitsu world and Pink Spider.
Jewels 12th Ring was a planned mixed martial arts (MMA) to be held by MMA promotion Jewels. The event was planned to be held on March 11, 2011 at Shinjuku Face in Kabukicho, Tokyo, Japan but it was cancelled a few hours before the start due to the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.
While mixed martial arts is primarily a male dominated sport, it does have female athletes. For instance, Female competition in Japan includes promotions such as DEEP Jewels. Now defunct promotions that featured female fighters were Valkyrie, and Smackgirl. Professional mixed martial arts organizations in the United States that invite women to compete are industry leader Ultimate Fighting Championship, the all female Invicta Fighting Championships, Resurrection Fighting Alliance, Bellator Fighting Championships, and Legacy Fighting Championship. Now defunct promotions that featured female fighters were Strikeforce and EliteXC. There has been a growing awareness of women in mixed martial arts due to popular female fighters and personalities such as Amanda Nunes, Megumi Fujii, Gina Carano, Ronda Rousey, Miesha Tate, Holly Holm, Alexa Grasso, and Joanna Jędrzejczyk and among others. Carano became known as "the face of women's MMA" after appearing in a number of EliteXC events. This was furthered by her appearances on MGM Television's 2008 revival of their game show American Gladiators.
TKO Major League MMA was a Canadian mixed martial arts promotion established in 2000, it was originally broadcast on RDS and later on Fight Network. Formerly known as the Universal Combat Challenge (UCC), it was the first mixed martial arts promotion in Canada, before eventually rebranding to TKO Major League MMA in 2003. For years it was the largest MMA promotion in Canada, before eventually going on hiatus for 8 years. Returning in 2016, since then it has signed a deal with the UFC to be broadcast on the promotion's streaming service UFC Fight Pass. The promotion was dissolved, as per Quebec Enterprise Register concluding fiscal year 2019.
