Why Is a 12-Year-Old Girl Preparing to Fight a Woman Twice Her Age in an MMA Fight?

A 12-year-old girl has agreed to fight a 24-year-old woman in an MMA fight in Japan. How is that even allowed?

Full disclosure: I haven’t spent a lot of time, er, any time watching Japanese MMA fights. But it only took me about two minutes to do enough research to realize that many MMA fights in Japan are much different than the ones here in the U.S. While there is certainly no shortage of serious MMA fights in Japan, there are also quite a few fights that are set up simply for the shock factor. How else can you explain some of these battles?

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But even with some of those "freakshow" fights in mind, it’s still hard to believe what one MMA organization in Japan is planning to do in May. According to WMMA Rankings, a company called Deep Jewels is promoting a fight that will feature a 12-year-old girl doing battle with a 24-year-old opponent. The pre-teen girl, who has only been identified as "Momo," is reportedly in the seventh grade and weighs less than 90 pounds. But she is going to knuckle up with Momoko Yamasaki, a professional fighter with a 2-3 career record and a past that includes street fighting. It sounds like it could be a disaster waiting to happen.

The good news is that Momo and her opponent are both going to wear headgear during the fight and will abide by amateur rules. Additionally, it doesn’t exactly sound like Momo is a pushover. She trains at Hakuhinkai Karate, a gym that has manufactured several successful MMA fighters, so she should know what she’s doing when she fights. One of those fighters Mizuki Inoue posted several videos of her working out with Momo.

But this fight has certainly sparked its fair share of controversy already with many people wondering how in the world an MMA organization has agreed to allow a child to take part in a fight. Despite the backlash, it sounds like Deep Jewels plans on moving forward with its plan to pit Momo and Yamasaki against one another on May 20.

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