A twelve-year-old just picked up a mixed martial arts (MMA) victory against an opponent twice her age via submission.
Twelve-Year-Old shines with submission MMA victory
Twelve-year-old Momo Shimizu recently competed for a Japanese MMA promotion at their DEEP JEWELS 16 event. In a controversial decision, Shimizu was matched up against a fighter with a professional record of 3-5, Momoko Yamazaki, who was also twice her age.
The fight got underway with the pair exchanging rabbit punches, before Shimizu took the fight to the ground with a takedown. After some grappling, Shimizu was able to lock in the rear-naked choke, eventually forcing the referee to step in and call the action off.
After the fight, Shimizu was awarded several gifts for her win; including a trophy, a box of protein, and a stuffed animal. Shimizu, who trains at a small karate school in Japan, did express a lack of confidence heading into the fight, saying, “I don’t have firm confidence to win this fight, but I don’t think I will lose or anything like that.”
The particular promotion that Shimizu fought for has a history of controversially booking younger fighters. However, Shimizu’s coach, Shu Hirata, has come to the promotion’s defense, suggesting they booked a fighter fully capable of handling the fight experience, as Shimizu has been training extensively for years.
“Momo has been training MMA six times a week at least three hours a day ever since when she was in the kindergarten,” Hirata said, via Mirror UK. “Momo already had 100 amateur fights in BJJ, kickboxing, and karate combined which is far more experience than her upcoming opponent Momoko Yamazaki who actually works at Hostess Bar and barely trains. This is not the first time Jewels put teenagers against an adult.
“They have done twelve-year-old vs adult and thirteen-year-old vs adult in the past and in both fights a younger fighter won via submission. Fans are used to seeing kids doing kickboxing and beating adults.
“If anything, there’s more of an expectation that she’s the next big thing. So her coach [Sadanori Yamaguchi] actually appreciates the concern from the U.S. side, because nobody is too concerned in Japan. Of course, there’s always a danger as you can never say it’s 100 percent safe.”
