Shizuka Sugiyama: Notes On Her Time Abroad

Shizuka Sugiyama is now over four months in to her year-long stay in Sydney, Australia. When we first heard she would be studying abroad, our biggest fear here at Pancake was that she would not be training and would be super rusty when she got back. Thankfully, along with continuing her studies in English, Sugiyama has also been continuing her studies in BJJ. She has hooked up with Gracie Oceania, and specifically a blue belt Laura Ng who operates a blog, skillfully named iheartbjj.com. Read more »

Preview: Jewels 12th Ring

Jewels 12th Ring is set to happen March 11, and the main-event is one to pay attention to. Ayaka Hamasaki, Megumi Fujii’s protege and Jewels Lightweight Queen Champion, was set to fight veteran Lisa Ward, but due to a calf injury, Ward has been replaced by fellow 2010 Bellator semi-finalist, and American Top Team fighter, Jessica Aguilar. It will be interesting to see how they match up, especially if the fight goes to the ground.

Shizuka Sugiyama will also be fighting again in this event, and she has gained a spot back on the poster alongside Mika Nagano. Sugiyama will be fighting Mayumi “Super Benkei” Aoki, who shares a two-fight losing streak. We’re hoping Sugi will pull out this win before she departs to Australia where she will be studying abroad for a year.

View the full event card and PV after the break.

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Preview: Jewels 11th Ring

Tomorrow will bring Jewels 11th Ring, which will seek to crown the first Jewels Lightweight Queen Champion as well as Rough Stone Grand Prix Champions. As noted before, Shizuka Sugiyama is making a comeback during this event, and she will be facing Mongolian fighter Esui, who she was slated to fight in Jewels 9th Ring.

Continue after the jump for the complete card and PV. Read more »

Shizuka Sugiyama IS Fighting in Jewels 11th Ring!

After tweeting with Sugiyama (@Cisyumm) we are excited to confirm that she is indeed going to be fighting at the December 17th Jewels 11th Ring event. It is yet to be known who Sugiyama will face during her comeback fight, but she states that “It is likely to be announced soon.”

We Finally Found a Sugiyama PV Highlight

Jewels footage is hard to come by stateside, and thus it would be nearly impossible for us to make our own Sugiyama highlight video. Thankfully, YouTube user Quamzin03350 has done so in our stead in this PV, which features some of Sugiyama’s past fights and recent promo appearances for the upcoming Jewels 11th Ring on December 17th. Try to watch it and not smile. Pretty sure you can’t. From her signature ‘Fly High’ knee to her apparent love for rugby and vendetta against baseball bats, Sugi is just too silly and fun to not love.

Unfortunately, while she is helping promote the event, Sugi is not present on the 11th Ring card. This past summer she had an injury that prevented her from fighting in Jewels 9th Ring, and she was also absent from 10th Ring. She seems to have recovered since, competing in recent Zendokai Karate tournaments, but we have to wonder when she will make her return to Jewels. We hope she does so soon and with improvement. For now, we will have to be content watching her kick bats in two (she does that a lot, really).

Sugiyama Out of Jewels 9th Ring Due to Injury

Bad news: Shizuka Sugiyama, our favorite up and coming mixed martial artist, is out of the next Jewels event due to an injury. According to Nikkan Sports, it seems she suffered a broken collar bone as well as a dislocated shoulder during training. Sugiyama was to face Mongolian wrestler and MMA newcomer Esui in a shootboxing match at Jewels 9th Ring being held July 31st.

Unfortunately, this is another sad note considering Sugi’s career seems to have taken quite a downturn recently. After she went 5-0 at the beginning of her career, Sugi is now only 1-2 in her last three fights. It seems that her first loss at the hands of Alexandra Sanchez took quite a bit out of her. She also notably skipped Jewels 8th Ring, which was held back in May, after her second loss to Miki Morifuji.

We were looking forward to seeing her take to the ring again, although with mixed concern as she was pitted against a noticeably bigger opponent in Esui. Regardless, we wish Sugi a quick and lasting recovery, and we await the day she dons her oversized marshmallow-like Jewels gloves once more.