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Final Valkyrie Open-Weight Champion Rin Nakai will put her unbeaten MMA record on the line against England’s Danielle “The Curse” West at Pancrase Impressive Tour 9 on September 4th in Tokyo, Japan. MMARising.com first learned of the bout on Wednesday and the promotion announced it today.

Nakai has not fought since December 30th when she quickly submitted an overmatched Mika “Hari” Harigai at SRC: “Soul of Fight.” She captured the Valkyrie title in November before the promotion ceased operations. West will look to rebound from a loss in May as she makes her second trip to Japan.

Nakai (10-0-0) once campaigned at 125 pounds before making the move all the way up to 145, where she has had success against opponents with varying levels of skill. After sitting out for all of 2009, Nakai fought four times for Valkyrie in 2010 and earned victories over Mizuho Sato (twice), Megumi Yabushita and Mayumi “Super Benkei” Aoki. The second win over Sato earned Nakai the newly-created Valkyrie Open-Weight Championship, but the promotion encountered financial troubles and Nakai will now return to Pancrase where she fought twice early in her career.

West (3-2-0) won three of her first four fights in Europe and had planned to make her Japanese debut in March, but found herself in the middle of a tragic situation after the country was rocked by a massive earthquake. Her bout with Bolormaa “Esui” Erdenebileg at Jewels: “12th Ring” was cancelled and West returned home. She faced Eline Nilsson for The Zone FC in Sweden in May, but suffered a TKO loss in the later stages of the second round. Now looking to get back on the winning track, West will make her way back to Japan to face one of the country’s top stars.

Pancrase Impressive Tour 9 takes place on September 4th at Differ Ariake in Tokyo, Japan. The card also features a second women’s bout between Naoko Omuro and Kayo Nagayasu, who first faced off in late 2003. Omuro and Nagayasu will compete using two, five-minute rounds. The bout between Nakai and West will be contested over three, five-minute rounds.

(Photo Credit: Valkyrie)

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