Best Women’s MMA Rivalries: Shinashi vs. Watanbe

Here is a treat for all of you. What was the best rivalry in women’s MMA? For me, any discussion on that topic has to mention the following two fighters: submission expert Satoko Shinashi and kickboxer Hisae Watanabe. Their rivalry consisted of two epic fights that both ended violently.

In two earlier events, held a month apart, both fighters finished each of their respective opponents, Shinashi with submissions and Watanabe by strikes. The interesting aspect about these finishes is that they were accomplished under the horribly limited rule-set of Smackgirl. Not only did they have to wear larger gloves, they were also given 10 count knockdowns, were not allowed to ground and pound, and were only given 30 seconds for any grappling on the ground!

The limits put on these athletes clearly affected the first fight in question, taking place in December 2002 at Smackgirl’s Japan Cup 2002 Grand Final. However, at least they were fair in the sense both grapplers and strikers are limited equally, in my opinion.

Wow did you see that limp at the end? How about the genuine joy of victory?

Their rematch took 4 years to materialize and during that time Watanabe had really improved her game, especially on the ground, and Shinashi wasn’t able to get a submission from pure will.