Pancrase will kick off their 2022 schedule with a strawweight title fight, as veteran Emi Fujino will return to face KAREN in the main event of Pancrase 326. The fight is part of a card that will happen on March 21st, per an announcement made by the promotion recently.
The card will take place at the Belle Salle Takadanobaba in Tokyo, Japan. The promotion previously operated out of the USEN Studio Coast, however, that notable music venue is set to close in late January.
Fujino will be competing in Pancrase for the first time since late 2019. Her last appearance under their banner saw her earn a strawweight belt, submitting Jang Hyun-ji via rear naked choke.
That fight was Fujino’s third consecutive win. Her last loss in Pancrase came in 2018 against now-UFC fighter Viviane Araujo.
Fujino recently appeared in a RIZIN fight, losing a unanimous decision to the promotion’s super atomweight champion, Ayaka Hamasaki.
KAREN is getting the title fight after attaining an undefeated record of four wins in Pancrase. Three of these victories have come during Fujino’s absence, as she has earned three finish wins since October 2020.
KAREN’s last victory came in October 2021, when she stopped Kotomi Shintani within a round due to a cut.
Another RIZIN alum will compete lower on the card, as veteran Yojiro Uchimura will face Raiki Endo at bantamweight.
Uchimura is currently on a three-fight losing streak. However, some of the losses come against notable names like former UFC fighter Yoshinori Horie or RIZIN star Kyohei Hagiwara.
Uchimura’s last loss was a decision to Tokitaka Nakanishi in October.
Endo had a two-fight streak of wins stopped in his last appearance, as Tatsuhiko Iwamoto submitted him in September.
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