This was very tense grappling bout. Carina Damm came out striking but slipped, went down and MIKU got on top, and a long grueling battle on the ground began.
The only two things Carina had asked from the very beginning were using men's gloves, and a rematch clause. Otherwise, there was no reason for her to take this rematch with MIKU, Japan's top grappler who had a near perfect record of 10-1 till she lost to Carina.

These two first met at the MARS Attack show on July 21s at Shinjuku FACE. There, these two girls engaged in hard striking in the first round and a grappling battle in the second, and at the end, Carina came on top with an armbar. But a controversy immediately started brewing on the spot. When Carina got MIKU's left arm, the Japanese grappler screamed, "She's grabbing the glove!" A referee checked, released Carina’s hands from MIKU's left hand, but immediately resumed the action, so Carina quickly got the same left hand again, extending it for a finish.

Unlike in the States, women MMA fighters, in Japan, use a different type of open finger glove created by Smack Girl. The part that covers the knuckle is substantially thicker than the men's gloves, and the entire hands are wrapped so the hands almost become part of the glove, and it's actually difficult to slide in your hand between the arms and legs because its just simply too bulky. It's very uncomfortable to fight, and is definitely a disadvantage for a striker who likes to take care of business with punches. This glove, designed only for female competitors in Japan, is not exactly world standard gear for competition, on top of that, since the media is hot on this DEEP (This promotion is the one that booked MIKU to the MARS show) and MIKU complaining about Carina grabbing the glove, it would be a good story to do a rematch in men's gloves, perhaps for the first time in the history of Japanese women's MMA. Carina's management explained the logic and reason to MARS, and also, the rematch clause was presented as a mandatory issue. This is a two round fight. Its short and considering that it’s an "away" fight for Carina, there is a possibility that MIKU might edge her out in a decision. If that happens, then the third match between Carina and MIKU must take place sometime soon.
Carina's side was notified that everything was fine. Men's gloves had been accepted and also no problem with a rematch clause. Then the rematch between the two was announced, and both Carina and MIKU concentrated on their training while the media turned this into a grudge match.

MIKU and Carina Damm engaged in a very tense grappling bout. Perhaps a two-round fight was a little too short for them......

However, the day before the weigh-ins MARS had to break some bad news to Carina. No men's gloves and no rematch clause. This interim person who did the communication between MARS and DEEP, during the negotiation never mentioned anything about the glove nor the rematch issues. That was the reason MARS presented the problem to Carina, just two days before the fight. It may sound odd for MARS to use an interim person to communicate with DEEP, who is also sort of an interim figure between MIKU and MARS because MIKU belongs to Club Barbarian, not DEEP. With two liaisons, things can be messy but this is not so uncommon in Japan, especially since the promotion is relatively young. MARS had to go through the "proper" route to contact fighters and that could end up in not only one but also many liaisons.
Carina's management, naturally, had to say, well, that is your problem not mine.
However, everyone believed canceling Carina vs. MIKU on the day of the fight was just not good for the entire MMA community so somehow the fight had to happen.
Carina's management agreed, therefore, after the weigh-in, they began the final negotiation and it actually lasted till three PM on the day of the fight. In the end, Carina had to swallow the glove issue, and the rematch clause became a verbal agreement between the promoter, manager, and a DEEP official.

Carina and MIKU stepped into the ring, engaging in a very close battle, but the judges gave an edge to MIKU for catching Carina in an armbar position three times. Each time, Carina escaped, and she did comeback in the second round but it was a bit too late.
But in return, Carina reportedly walked out of Ryogoku Sumo Arena with a purse of a little over 6,000 US dollars. Not much compared to boxing but this probably made her the highest paid woman in the history of professional MMA.
PIC: MIKU controlled Carina in the first but Carina came back in the
second. At the end, MIKU's three armbar attempts made the difference.

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