Jewels (styled JEWELS in capitals) is a mixed martial arts organization owned by Marverous Japan Co., Ltd., focused on female fighters. It is the direct successor of Smackgirl.[1][2][3] It has a working relationship with fellow mixed martial arts promotion Deep presided by Shigeru Saeki (also the Jewels supervisor).[4]
After the women MMA promotion Smackgirl faced severe financial difficulties caused by the unexpected departure of major sponsors and television network deals, an executive from Japanese event production company Archery Inc., Yuichi Ozono, formed the company Marverous Japan and acquired the assets and rights formerly belonging to Smackgirl parent company Kilgore.[3] Since the reputation of Smackgirl was tarnished by all the problems it faced, it was decided to start anew.[3]
On June 9, 2012, it was announced that Jewels has formed a strategic partnership with American promotion Invicta Fighting Championships to cross-promote the world's top female fighters on their respective fight cards in the United States and Japan.[5]
On May 25, 2013 (2013-05-25) Jewels announced that it would cease operations as an independent company, with Yuichi Ozono, then head of Jewels, stepping down and Shigeru Saeki from Deep, formerly supervisor, taking the full direction, and transferring fighters and brand to the new Deep Jewels brand, which would be managed by Deep.[6][7]
1. def. Seo Hee Ham at Jewels 17th Ring on December 17, 2011 in Tokyo, Japan 2. def. Yuka Tsuji at Jewels 19th Ring on May 26, 2012 in Osaka, Japan 3. def. Emi Fujino at Jewels 22nd Ring on December 15, 2012 in Osaka, Japan
1. def. Emi Fujino at Deep Jewels 9 on August 29, 2015 in Tokyo, Japan
1. def. Sadae Numata at Deep Jewels 2 on November 4, 2013 in Tokyo, Japan 2. def. Saori Ishioka at Deep Jewels 6 on November 3, 2014 in Tokyo, Japan
A four woman tournament was scheduled prior to Deep Jewels 28 to crown the promotions first Microweight Champion with the challengers being Emi Sato, Mizuki Furuse, Suwanan Boonsorn and Yasuko Tamada with Moe Sasaki as reserve. Furuse and Boonsorn advanced to the final which was scheduled to take place at Deep Jewels 29 before the COVID-19 pandemic, however this event and the match couldn't be rescheduled when the promotion returned with the show. On November 5, it was announced that Furuse would be taking an extended absence as she was both pregnant and getting married. As a result of these developments, Jewels declared Boonsorn as the inaugural champion.