Shizuka Sugiyama, occasionally nicknamed Shiiyan and The Big Newcomer of Hope, is an American-born Japanese female mixed martial artist. She previously fought in the MMA promotion Jewels and now competes for Deep.
Background
Sugiyama was born on in New York City, New York, United States. Sugiyama has an older brother. She graduated from the sports faculty of the Tokai University. While in the Tokai University, she was first introduced to the Karate-Do Zendokai association and began studying karate at 18 years old. She got her black belt in Karate in 2009. Sugiyama participated in the Japan Open 2007 Vale Tudo Real Fighting Karate-do Championship Series, placing second in the general category for women, being defeated by Saori Ishioka. In 2008, she was the winner of the Japan Open 2008 Vale Tudo Real Fighting Karate-do Championship Series 57 kg. She would repeat this feat in 2009. Shortly before her professional debut in MMA, she had a grappling match and was defeated by Hitomi Sakamoto.
She debuted on at Jewels 1st Ring, defeating Harumi with a rear naked chokesubmission. She would win her next fight against Shiho by TKO on. At Jewels 3rd Ring on, Sugiyama defeated Norwegian fighter Celine Haga by unanimous decision. In another dominant performance, Sugiyama defeated Mika Harigai by unanimous decision on. Making her debut with the Shoot boxing promotion, Sugiyama once again faced Hitomi Sakamoto, who had defeated Sugiyama in a grappling match. This time, Sugiyama defeated Sakamoto by decision. Sugiyama's first loss came against German fighter Alexandra Sanchez in the opening round of the 2009 Jewels Rough Stone Grand Prix 60 kg on. Sugiyama rebounded back with a unanimous decision victory over Yukiko Ozeki at Jewels 6th Ring on. At Jewels 7th Ring on, Miki Morifuji defeated Sugiyama by unanimous decision. Sugiyama was announced for Jewels 9th Ring in a shoot boxing match against Mongolian Esui, but she suffered a broken collar bone and a dislocated shoulder during training, which forced her to withdraw from the event. Returning after her injury, Sugiyama faced Esui in a MMA bout at Jewels 11th Ring on. Esui defeated Sugiyama by TKO early in the second round. Sugiyama was scheduled to face Mayumi "Super Benkei" Aoki at Jewels 12th Ring on in Tokyo, Japan, and planned to travel to Australia for one year to study after the fight. However, the event was cancelled after the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami earlier in the day. Sugiyama returned to Jewels to face Megumi Yabushita at Jewels 20th Ring on. She defeated Yabushita by split decision. Sugiyama faced Yurika Tanaka at Jewels 21st Ring on. She defeated Tanaka by TKO in the second round. Sugiyama was set to face Roxanne Modafferi at Jewels 22nd Ring on. However, Modafferi suffered a neck injury in training and withdrew from the fight on December 13. Sugiyama next faced Sung Eun Kim at Jewels 23rd Ring on. She won the fight by TKO in the first round. On, Sugiyama made her Deep debut against Chisa Yonezawa at Deep: Tokyo Impact - Lightweight GP 2013 Semifinal. She defeated Yonezawa by TKO in the first round. Sugiyama next faced Ji Yeon Kim at Deep: Cage Impact 2013 on. The fight ended in a majority draw after two rounds.
