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Text by Shu HIRATA
Photography by Yoshinori IHARA

SMACK GIRL - 12/26/2007: 'Yabu, Why are you doing this?'


Why are you doing this? Everyone must have been wondering about this match-up. She is 210 lbs. and you are only 125 lbs. That is a huge weight difference but she told me, "I want to do it. I always wanted to fight someone bigger than 100 kilos."

Yuka Tusji (left) controlled Su Hi Ham for the entire three rounds with superior grappling technique.

For Megumi Yabushita everything goes back to her fight against a 330-pound Russian fighter Svetlana Goundarenko. The day she first tried her skills at MMA back in December 2000, ever since that fight she has been searching for that moment. It is the moment when everything seems right. The crowd, the stage, the opponent, the way fight developed. The stage was a ReMix tournament. This former judo national champ turned pro-wrestler after taking out a kickboxer Bambi Bertoncello, made it to the semi-finals. She had the support of pro-wrestling fans and kakutougi fans because of her judo background, and on top of this the opponent was 200 pounds heavier. Goundarenko, well, at least for Megumi, was an ideal opponent to show the general public everything she wants to tell about a professional fighter and pro MMA fights - tremendous athletic ability, human drama, and great entertainment. A little girl beating a gigantic lady with wit and a variety of techniques, what could be a better situation to tell everyone about the greatness of the sport? And that is what happened on that day. Yabushita captured the heart of 10,000 plus fans that came to Budokan and made it to the final. For the Japanese fans, in addition to an amazing win over Goundarenko, how Yabushita got edged out in the final against Marloes Coenen even added to the drama. Although she was a runner-up without a doubt she is the MVP of this tournament. Since then Yabushita has been in search of that moment, and that is what she wanted to do in this fight against Lana Stefanac.

Smack Girl flyweight champion Satoko Shinashi threw Akemi Morihara to the ground and finished the fight with a heel lock.

Lana maybe 130 pounds lighter than Goundarenko but this runner-up of the 2007 ADCC world championship is way more equipped with MMA skills than the Russian judo-ka back in the year 2000. She has great submission skills and fast hands as well.

Yabushita circled around threw low kicks. Lana also came back with kicks to the legs. Every time Yabushita took these kicks her entire body swayed to the side. Then Lana pressured Yabushita into the corner, clinched, and unleashed knee shots and punches. Yabushita defended well, in fact no clean hits. But from the judges' perception it doesn't look good. Second round was basically the same. Lana pressured Yabushita the majority of the rounds and just only at the end when Lana started to show her fatigue, Yabushita came back with low kicks and a long hook but that was it. Most of the fight, Yabushita really couldn't do much.

From the age of three she began judo, and competed throughout all her school years capturing numerous national titles. Till she put a period in her judo career to join a pro-wrestling organization, for Yabushita, all her life was about competition. Then in her pro-wrestling years at JD, she learned the pleasure of entertaining fans. It was almost like a competitor who was only thinking about winning, suddenly found another way to become a winner in the ring. Then her philosophy became entertain the fans who bought tickets to see her fight, and then win if possible. Not just win the fight no matter what. Therefore that fight against Goundarenko was a perfect opponent at the perfect place for Yabushita. She has been searching since then but obviously she hasn't found that moment yet again. Quite frankly I don't even know if she can but I know she would tell me, "That’s OK. I’m going to keep on trying."

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