American D'Auguste Conquers Japan's Smack Girl Dynamic 2005 By Roxanne Modafferi Megumi vs. Asako TOKYO, Aug. 17 -- Halfway around the world, American Laura D'Auguste showed Japanese spectators what their American counterparts have known for some time -- this mixed martial artist sure can fight. On minor notice, D'Auguste accepted all-female promotion Smack Girl's invitation to join the ranks of their 4-Woman Middleweight Championship Tournament, kicking-off from the Yoyogi No. 2 Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan. The feisty foreigner, a regular on the U.S.'s Northeast circuit, hardly disappointed, waging two battles in one night on route to the crown, while besting her overall record to a cushy 8-0-1. The first round of the tournament began with Megumi Yabushita from SOD women's MMA dojo facing striking specialist Asako Sayuka, who had defeated Yabushita in SG Smack Legend 2002. They exchanged hearty blows and the fight went to the ground, with Yabushita ending up in guard. Sayuka landed powerful low kicks, but Megumi executed a beautiful drop seonage shoulder throw, sending Sayuka head-over-heels. The fight went up and down for another minute before Megumi found Sayuka's arm and won by armbar half way into round one. D'Auguste vs. Say The second round of the tournament commenced with Tevi Say, fighting for Havte Tension, versus Tiger Schulmann's D'Auguste. The two fighters closed the distance with jabs. D'Auguste took Say to the ground and tried to close the triangle, but couldn't finish it in thirty seconds and the referee stood them up. They closed the distance again, with D'Auguste pushing the fight once more to the mat and taking Say's back. She worked for the sleeper but was again stood back up. D'Auguste jumped guard next. She worked for the mount, and from there went to the back to submit Say with a rear naked choke in the first round. Following these two opening rounds, it was slated that D'Auguste would meet Yabushita in the final match of the night. Elsewhere on the card, Chiaki Kawabata from SG Women's MMA School faced Fuuka from JD Suta. They opened with a furious exchange of punches and knees. It went to the ground and Kawabata submitted her opponent 2 minutes and 50 seconds into round one. Kobayashi vs. Fujitate A full contact karate match changed the pace of things as Yuka Kobayashi fought against Eri Fujitate. The fighters could kick to the body and the head, but only punch bare-fisted to the body. Because of her relentless energy and endurance, Kobayashi pulled off an impressive win by decision over her opponent despite being shoved around and knocked down several times by Fujitate, who outweighed her by over fifty pounds. Free fighter Hisae Watanabe tried her skills against Mai from Paraestra Matsudo, and both ladies looked sharp. Watanabe landed some good face shots, sending Mai to her back, who scrambled to hook a leg lock in from the bottom. Watanabe shut her down, however, and the fight resumed standing. Shots connected as the fighters banged away, then clinched, then separated. Neither clearly dominated until Watanabe's kicks started to bother Mai later in the match. The last thirty seconds was an all-out war with Watanabe earning the decision. Tama-chan vs. Kumiko Maekawa Tama-chan wins Local favorite Tama-chan from SOD Women's MMA dojo faced Kumiko Maekawa, another free fighter, for a title match. Tama-chan's strikes penetrated and she clearly dominated the stand-up. Maekawa managed to clinch and sink an awkward headlock from the side, clocking the trapped Tama-chan numerous times with punches. Both ladies remained confident throughout the rounds, with Tama-chan trying for arm locks in round two. At the end of round two, the ladies turned up the heat, and Tama-chan landed four clean unanswered punches. She took Maekawa to the ground and delivered body blows from knee on stomach until the bell rang, earning herself the unanimous decision. Another local favorite, Windy Tomomi from Pancrasism, exchanged blows with Maki Koyakashiro from RL Blows. Windy battered her opponent with deadly Muay Thai kicks, taking mount as Koyakashiro went to the mat. After thirty seconds, they were stood up. Koyakashiro defended against the onslaught by clinching and driving Windy into the ropes, sometimes keeping her at bay with jabs. Windy dominated the feverish bout, earning herself the decision by the end of round two. Windy vs. Maki Yuki Tsuji from Sogo Kakutougi Angura returned to Smack Girl to face the challenger Ossan, also from Sogo Kakutougi Angura. Ossan attacked strong, but Tsuji got the better and passed guard to knee on belly when they went to the ground. Standing, Tsuji nearly beaned Ossan with a flying cross, but resorted to shooting and once more took Ossan to the ground where she ended up in guard. In round two, both fighters came out strong and looking to bang, but Tsuji surprised Ossan by ducking under the punches and executing a double-leg takedown. Quickly passing guard, she mounted and armbarred Ossan 2 minutes and 10 seconds into round two, retaining her championship belt. The night opened with two amateur MMA bouts of two five-minute rounds. Haruka Onuki defeated Yod Ako Yamada by rear naked choke 4 minutes and 12 seconds into the first round. For the second fight, Itsuka Yokose dominated Madoka Okada on the ground, taking mount approximately four times. However, Okada dominated the stand-up game, showing her superior Muay Thai skills, which earned her the victory by split decision. The first individual pro-fight of the night was Paraestra Tokyo's Kayo Nagayasu versus Yukiko Seki from Team Dengeki Network. They exchanged blows, with Nagayasu taking some hard hits without flinching. She got Seki to the ground and took her back multiple times. They answered each other's attacks, and finally in round two Nagayasu submitted Seki with a straight armbar (juji gatame). Hitomi Akano from the AACC had Megumi Fuji in her corner as she faced off against Kayo Hashi from Wajitsu Keishukai next. They came out fists flying, and Akano pulled off a straight arm lock in the first minute of round one. D'Auguste Rises in the East American D'Auguste hadn't had much opportunity to study her opponents beforehand, but she went in confident nonetheless. The night before the competition, Smack Girl staff showed final opponent Yabushita's fight against Roxanne Modafferi in the World Remix 2004 DVD, as well as brief footage of Tavi Say, who D'Auguste managed past in the tournament's initial round. To fight in the mini-tournament D'Auguste had to lose two pounds, which she admitted wasn't too bad except that she was hungry and unhappy like most fighters are until they have lunch after weigh-ins. Regarding a pre-fight meal, she said, "I eat anything that's available as long as it's food. I had rice today, chicken, peanut butter and crackers. I don't like sushi. I might try it but I didn't want to take a chance and eat something that would make me get sick right before fighting." D'Auguste vs. Yabushita In the tournament's highly-anticipated final round, both D'Auguste and Yabushita came out strong and ready. D'Auguste jabbed and followed up with vicious low kicks that left a mark on Yabushita's thigh. Yabushita clinched against D'Auguste's power and D'Auguste let it go to the ground, controlling Yabushita with the spider guard, yet after thirty seconds, they were stood up. D'Auguste pressured, hitting hard and throwing knees. Yabushita countered and D'Auguste went down again, pulling Yabushita into her guard. She worked the triangle and when the Japanese defended, she threatened the arm lock only to return to the triangle. Sinking it in and trying to apply it, again thirty seconds passed and the referee stood them up. The fighters clashed and closed, and to avoid being thrown, D'Auguste jumped guard and hung off Yabushita, but the determined Japanese fighter refused to go down. Yabushita pushed the tangled pair up against the ropes, working to loosen the guard. After a minute, D'Auguste touched down and they separated. In a bold move, Yabushita then took a running leap and flew at D'Auguste with both legs straight and extended. Tiger Schulmann's finest jumped back to avoid the crazy attack and the Japanese fighter landed flat on her back. D'Auguste adds another belt to her collection In round two, Yabushita switched strategy, clinching and going for throw after throw, successfully executing ippon seonage four or more times. D'Auguste managed to take her back twice off of the throws, or achieve a defensive position after landing. She locked in the triangle several times, but was forced to let go due to the thirty-second ground rule. Yabushita herself threatened D'Auguste with an armbar off the throw, which D'Auguste successfully defended. After two hard five-minute rounds, Laura D'Auguste won the split judges' decision. "I wasn't sure what they were going to do, "D'Auguste said of the all-important judges' scoring prior to her name being announced. "She did throws and I'm not sure if they consider that more than what I did to her, but I actually felt that they were fair this time." Along with the last-minute assignment to Japan, D'Auguste also had to contend with the thirty-second rule that made it mandatory to re-start the competitors regardless of their advancement on the ground. "I think that thirty seconds is not realistic," D'Auguste commented of the modification. "She had things she had to let go of because thirty seconds are up. It takes like thirty seconds to position yourself and then when you start to get it on, they're saying, "Oh stand up." I knew they were going to do that." What's next for the newly crowned American champion? "I'm staying until Sunday," D'Auguste told FCF. "I haven't had any goodies all week, and I usually have them every day. I'm going to have a cupcake."

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