Jewels 1st Ring, originally Jewels raising an army match (JEWELS 旗揚げ戦, jewels hataage sen) 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 (2008-11-16) at Shinjuku Face in Kabukicho, Tokyo, Japan.[1][2]
Background
Women's promotion Smackgirl had faced several problems prior to being bought by Marverous Japan. The new parent company decided to change the promotion's name into Jewels to have a fresh start.[3][4] It was decided that the first events would have the same rules as Smackgirl and broadcast on Samurai TV in Japan.[4][3] The event was first announced on October 24, 2008 (2008-10-24).[4]
The first four matches announced were Saori Ishioka vs. Mika Nagano, Misaki Takimoto vs. Masako Yoshida, Sachiko Yamamoto vs. Kazumi Kaneko and Harumi Harumi vs. Shizuka Sugiyama.[3][4]Abe Ani Combat Club members Megumi Fujii and Hitomi Akano were confirmed for the card at a press conference held on November 7, 2008 (2008-11-07).[5][6] The rest of the card was announced a few days later.[7]