Mei Yamaguchi


Mei Yamaguchi, formerly known by her ring name V Hajime, is a Japanese female mixed martial artist and kickboxer. Her former nickname comes from the V1 armlock wrestling move.
Yamaguchi currently fights as a lightweight in the Jewels promotion. She has a notable victory over Yuka Tsuji and was the final Valkyrie Featherweight Champion.
On, Yamaguchi announced that she would begin competing as a freelance fighter and changed her ring name to V.V.

Early life

Yamaguchi was born in Tokyo, Japan on. While living in Los Angeles, California, she studied some of her elementary school years before returning to Japan. She also studied abroad in the United States during her university years.
Yamaguchi began to learn karate during her residence in the United States around the age of 7 years old, yearning to be like Jackie Chan. During college, she started training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. After returning to Japan, she joined Butoku Kai. She currently serves as the leader of the Morishita branch.
In 2005, Yamaguchi entered into the Max Jiu-Jitsu Academy.

Mixed martial arts career

Yamaguchi started her professional career in MMA in the lightweight tournament of Smackgirl-F 2007: The Next Cinderella Tournament 2007 First Stage on, where she defeated Anna Saito by submission due to a rear naked choke.
Yamguchi won her next fight in Smackgirl, defeating Saori Ishioka with a kneebar, forcing Ishioka to tap in the second round in the semi-finals at Smackgirl-F 2007: The Next Cinderella Tournament 2007 2nd Stage on.
On at Smackgirl 2007: Queens' Hottest Summer, Yamaguchi defeated Emi Tomimatsu by split decision, winning the final of the Next Cinderella Tournament 2007 in the lightweight division.
In her last fight with the promotion Smackgirl and her fourth professional match, Yamaguchi was defeated via split decision by Emi Fujino on at Smackgirl 7th Anniversary: Starting Over.
Her next bout would be at the first event for the promotion Valkyrie, Valkyrie 01, where she lost by unanimous decision against women's MMA legend Yuka Tsuji on.
It was just the fourth time that Tsuji had been taken to a decision.
Yamaguchi rebounded by winning her next two bouts in the inaugural Valkyrie women's featherweight tournament. The first was a unanimous decision win over Emi Fujino on at Valkyrie 02 in a rematch of their 2007 bout. The second tournament bout was against Kyoko Takabayashi, whom Yamaguchi was able to defeat with a close split decision at Cage Force & Valkyrie on, winning the tournament in the process and earning the right to face Yuka Tsuji for Valkyrie's Featherweight championship.
At Valkyrie 04, in her second match against Tsuji, Yamaguchi was once again the underdog, but she managed to defeat Tsuji with a rear naked choke in only 76 seconds. This was the first time that Tsuji was defeated by a fellow Japanese fighter and only the second time that she had been defeated in her MMA career. Yamaguchi became Valkyrie's Featherweight Champion in what is considered one of the biggest upsets in the history of women's mixed martial arts.
On, Yamaguchi faced Kyoko Takabayashi in a rematch of the 2009 featherweight tournament final and Yamaguchi's first defense of Valkyrie's featherweight title. Yamaguchi barely retained with a contentious majority draw in which the dissenting judge scored the fight in favor of Takabayashi at Valkyrie 08.
Yamaguchi faced "Windy" Tomomi Sunaba at Pancrase Impressive Tour 3 on. She defeated Sunaba by majority decision.
Yamaguchi next faced Akiko Naito at Pancrase Impressive Tour 4 on. She defeated Naito by armbar submission in the first round.
Yamaguchi faced Seo Hee Ham in a Jewels vs. Valkyrie match at Jewels 15th Ring on. She was defeated by unanimous decision.
Yamaguchi faced Mika Nagano at Jewels 17th Ring on. She won the fight by split decision.
Yamaguchi fought outside Japan for the first time in her MMA career when she faced Katja Kankaanpää at Botnia Punishment 11 on in Finland. She was defeated by unanimous decision.
On, Yamaguchi faced Emi Tomimatsu in a rematch at Jewels 20th Ring. She defeated Tomimatsu by unanimous decision.
Yamaguchi next faced Megumi Fujii at Vale Tudo Japan 2012 on. She was defeated by unanimous decision.
On, Yamaguchi faced Seo Ye Jung at Jewels 24th Ring. She defeated Jung by submission due to an armbar in the first round.
In her second fight outside Japan, Yamaguchi faced Patricia Vidonic at Pacific Xtreme Combat 40 on in Guam. She was defeated by split decision.

Submission grappling and shoot boxing career

Yamaguchi tried her hand in submission grappling, first in the Abu Dhabi Combat Club Japan Trial final qualifier in the under-55 kg class, where she was defeated by points by Yasuko Mogi on. In her second and final submission grappling match, she was once again defeated by points; this time by women's MMA star Miku Matsumoto at DEEP X03 on.
Yamaguchi has had a more successful run in shoot boxing. She began competing on, in the shoot boxing tournament Girls S-Cup 2009, where she defeated by decision South Korean female Muay thai kickboxer Su Jeong Lim and fellow mixed martial artist and karateka Madoka Okada before losing against female shoot boxing rising star Rena Kubota in the tournament final. Yamaguchi won her next two bouts by decision. She participated in the shoot boxing Girls S-Cup 2010, defeating Samanta van Dole by technical submission and losing against Ai Takahashi by unanimous decision after an extra round.
On, Yamaguchi entered the 2011 Shoot Boxing Girls S-Cup tournament. She faced Mina in the opening round and was defeated by majority decision.
Yamaguchi entered the 2012 Shoot Boxing Girls S-Cup on. She defeated Namtarn Por Munagpetch and Lorena Klijn to advance to the final round, but lost to Rena Kubota via unanimous decision in the tournament final.
Yamaguchi faced Lorena Klijn in a rematch at Shoot Boxing 2013: Act.3 on. She was defeated by unanimous decision.
Yamaguchi was scheduled to compete against Du Peiling at the 2013 Shoot Boxing Girls S-Cup Japan Midsummer Festival on. However, Peiling suffered an injury and Yamaguchi instead faced Chihiro Kira. She defeated Kira by unanimous decision.

Mixed martial arts record

Submission grappling record

Shoot boxing record

Championships and accomplishments

Mixed martial arts