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Text by Yoshinori IHARA & Shu HIRATA
Photography by Yoshinori IHARA

G-SHOOTO 05/06/2006: 'Mirror Opposite - Roxanne and Megumi'

The battle began with a beautiful throw (seoi nage) by a former national judo champion, Megumi Yabushita.
But Roxanne Modafferi was calm. From the bottom, she went for an armbar and when Yabushita began dropping fists, Roxanne slid to the side reversed the position and got the back-mount position.
Roxanne was riding a bit high but landed a series of punches to Yabushita's head.
The second round once again belonged to Roxanne.
She wobbled Yabushita with a right hook and when Yabushita went for another judo throw, Roxanne pushed Yabushita to the ground, securing a back-mount position, again, landing numerous punches to all areas of Yabushita's head.
Roxanne revealed to the reporters after the fight that punches were light because she wanted to maintain her position and also, she was trying to set up for a rear naked choke.

Roxanne Modafferi maintained this position and scored points for a unanimous win over Megumi Yabushita.

There was a real contrast between the two fighters.
Roxanne displayed her improvement in both boxing skill and in the category called "doing it the Japanese way" - she grabbed the microphone after the fight, in the ring, and expressed her cherished desire to fight Amanda Buckner and Laura D'Auguste.
Yabushita, on the other end, backstage, seemed refreshed and carefree as usual but somehow very tired both physically and mentally, "Besides winning and losing, I am disappointed that I couldn't show my handles and drape out there. In a turtle position, I waited for a referee to step in to break us up, thinking like (Shooto's) C+ rules. (Instead of Class B rules)"

Roxanne moved to Japan last year and since then she has been training with Japan's royalty in MMA, Wajiu-tsu Keishu-kai, and is now back on her winning track.
Yabushita, now lost four out of her last six fights, all to top fighters from the states. She has been a forefront runner of Japan's women MMA for the past five years, but recently announced, as of end of this month, she is closing her dojo, SOD Woman's MMA Dojo.
"I am feeling sorry to the fighters and members (of the dojo) but I am hoping this would trigger something new. In regards to my future plans, I would like to consult with the others before announcing them."

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