This annual Japanese prospects list for 2024 includes four fighters from DEEP, DEEP JEWELS, Pancrase and Shooto.
Arisa Matsuda (4-0-0)
Arisa
is a former professional baseball player who is now known for her
undefeated MMA record. She first brought attention to herself when she
defeated Mika Nagano in 2022. Arisa’s sprawl allowed her to stop Mika’s
takedowns and she was effective with her own ground and pound when she
got Mika down.
In
2023, Arisa fought Machi Fukuda for the DEEP JEWELS interim strawweight
title. Arisa sprawled well in the first two rounds and bloodied Machi’s
nose with punches. Machi won the third round with her grappling, but
Arisa took a split decision for the belt. She will gain more attention
with her title this year.
Tokitaka Nakanishi (10-2-0)
Tokitaka
is known for being a former featherweight King of Pancrase champion. He
dropped down a division in 2023 and faced Yasuhiro Kawamura at Pancrase
340. Tokitaka escaped from a leg scissors choke from Yasuhiro and
finished him with an arm-triangle choke to become bantamweight King of
Pancrase.
Yannick Yuji Ephoeviga (6-0-0)
We
first featured Yuji in last year’s prospects list. He received an
opportunity to fight for Combate Global with Abema TV support, which is a
rare opportunity abroad for a Japanese fighter early in their career.
Yuji TKOed Geralbert Castillo in that fight and finished 4-0 overall in
2023.
Kyoma Akimoto (4-0-0)
Kyoma
is only 17, but he has already scored two knockouts as a pro fighter.
The DEEP flyweight division has many talented fighters, and Kyoma is
still young in his career and life, but he plans to win the DEEP title
before he turns 20. He is from the same gym as Hiromasa Ougikubo and Rei
Tsuruya.
