Sakura Nomura

Background

Nomura was born on (1976-11-22)November 22, 1976 in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan.

Martial arts training

While attending the Takaoka University of Law, Nomura achieved third place in 1996 and second place in 1998 at the All Japan Student Judo Championships in the -56 kg and -57 kg categories, respectively.

At a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Asia Open held on September 11 and 12, 2010 at the Tokyo Budokan, Nomura won first place in the blue belt category.

Mixed martial arts career

Nomura made her professional MMA debut with the Jewels promotion on March 19, 2010 (2010-03-19) at Jewels 7th Ring. She defeated Yuko Kagoshima by technical submission after the referee stopped the fight when Nomura caught Kagoshima with an armbar in the second round.

In her second fight, Nomura participated in Deep's event Club Deep Toyama: Barbarian Festival 8 on May 16, 2010 (2010-05-16), defeating Abe Ani Combat Club member Rina Tomita by unanimous decision.

In an upset, Nomura defeated Jewels hotshot Saori Ishioka by unanimous decision during the first round of the Jewels Lightweight Queen tournament on July 31, 2010 (2010-07-31) at Jewels 9th Ring.

At Jewels 11th Ring on December 17, 2010 (2010-12-17) during the semi-finals of the Lightweight Queen tournament, Nomura suffered her first professional defeat via unanimous decision at the hands of eventual tournament champion Ayaka Hamasaki.

Nomura was scheduled to face Ji Yun Kim at Jewels 12th Ring on March 11, 2011 (2011-03-11) in Tokyo, Japan, but the event was cancelled after the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami earlier in the day.

Kickboxing career

Nomura had a shoot boxing match at Jewels 10th Ring on October 10, 2010 (2010-10-10), where she defeated Yoshimi Ohama by unanimous decision.

Kickboxing record

Legend:   Win   Loss   Draw/No contest