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An injury suffered in training has forced submission specialist Lisa Ward out of her main event bout against Ayaka Hamasaki at Jewels: “Twelfth Ring” on March 11th in Tokyo, Japan. Fellow 2010 Bellator tournament semi-finalist Jessica “Jag” Aguilar will now replace the injured Ward on the card.

Aguilar had been scheduled to compete on February 26th for G-Force Fights in Michigan, but that fight was scrapped after opponent Simona Soukupova also fell victim to injury. Aguilar will step in to face Hamasaki on just one week’s notice. Hamasaki’s Jewels title will not be on the line in the fight.

Aguilar (10-4-0) was seen by many as a dark horse to win the Bellator 115-pound women’s tournament last year, but she suffered a controversial Split Decision defeat against eventual champion Zoila Frausto in the semi-final round. The loss ended a four-fight winning streak that saw Aguilar post wins over Catia Vitoria and Lynn Alvarez. All but one of Aguilar’s victories have come by stoppage and her striking has improved dramatically over the past 18 months. That was evident in the battle with Frausto, as Aguilar out-boxed the striker across three rounds. The American Top Team standout picked up a quick win in November and will look for another victory in her Jewels debut.

Hamasaki (4-0-0) debuted with a win under the Shooto banner in late 2009 before joining the Jewels ranks last July at “Ninth Ring.” There, she earned a 48-second submission victory over Han Sol Lee to advance to the second round of the inaugural Jewels Lightweight Queen Tournament at 115 pounds. On December 17th, Hamasaki defeated previously unbeaten Club Barbarian prospect Sakura Nomura and South Korean kickboxing star Seo Hee Ham in a single evening to become the first Jewels Lightweight Queen Champion. The AACC protégé of Megumi Fujii will not be defending her new Jewels title against Aguilar, but the fight will employ special rules that permit ground and pound.

With both fighters possessing excellent ground skills and rapidly improving striking, the matchup is a very even one, but Aguilar will have to adapt to fighting inside a ring and under different rules in Japan. This will be her first professional mixed martial arts bout in the country.

MMARising.com first learned of Ward’s injury in late February, though specific details of the injury were not disclosed. It was later revealed that Ward injured her calf muscle in training. Aguilar’s participation in the main event bout was not made official until today.

Jewels: “Twelfth Ring” takes place on March 11th at Shinjuku FACE in Tokyo, Japan.

Jewels: “Twelfth Ring” Fight Card (to date; subject to change):

- Ayaka Hamasaki vs Jessica “Jag” Aguilar [52kg Non-Title Bout; Special Rules]
- Mika “Future Princess” Nagano vs Emi Murata [54kg Bout]
- Shizuka Sugiyama vs Mayumi “Super Benkei” Aoki [62kg Bout]
- Sakura Nomura vs Ji Yun Kim [58kg Bout]
- Bolormaa “Esui” Erdenebileg vs Danielle “The Curse” West [65kg Bout]
- Rina Tomita vs Sadae “Manhoef” Suzumura [52kg Bout]
- Miyoko Kusaka vs Yuka Okumura [50kg Bout]
- Miku Hayashi vs Suzuna Nakamura [52.16kg Kickboxing Match]

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