Saori Ishioka

Background

Ishioka was born on (1987-09-13)September 13, 1987 in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. She started judo during childhood, earning third place in an all-high school tournament in China. She graduated from the Hiroshima Prefectural Hiroshima Technical High School.

In 2006, she was introduced to the Karate-do Zendokai association in their Hiroshima branch and, wanting to become a professional martial artist, she moved to Tokyo.

Mixed martial arts career

Ishioka debuted with a unanimous decision defeat against Kyoko Takabayashi at Smackgirl - F 2007: The Next Cinderella Tournament 2007 First Stage on March 11, 2007 (2007-03-11).

On April 28, 2007 (2007-04-28), Ishioka participated at Smackgirl 2007: The Dance of the Taisho Romance in the Next Cinderella Tournament 2007 lightweight first round, where she defeated Yoko Oyama by unanimous decision. In the next round of the tournament, at Smackgirl - F 2007: The Next Cinderella Tournament 2007 2nd Stage on May 19, 2007 (2007-05-19), Mei Yamaguchi defeated Ishioka with a kneebar.

Ishioka rebounded back with three consecutive victories. The first one was against Masako Yoshida, whom Ishioka defeated by unanimous decision on September 6, 2007 (2007-09-06) at Smackgirl 2007: Queens' Hottest Summer. She next defeated Miyuki Ariga, also by unanimous decision, in a match with special rules on November 25, 2007 (2007-11-25) during Kingdom of Grapple Live 2007. Her third consecutive victory came when she defeated American fighter Thricia Poovey by armbar submission at Smackgirl 7th Anniversary: Starting Over on December 26, 2007 (2007-12-26).

Her winning streak came to an end on February 14, 2008 (2008-02-14) at the hands of South Korean kickboxer Seo Hee Ham, who defeated Ishioka by unanimous decision in the Smackgirl World ReMix Tournament 2008 Opening Round, during the first round of the lightweight tournament.

Ishioka earned another victory by armbar submission against Harumi on August 6, 2008 (2008-08-06) at Kingdom of Grapple mini Live in Summerfest!! '08.

On November 16, 2008 (2008-11-16), Ishioka made her debut with MMA promotion Jewels at Jewels 1st Ring, where she defeated Mika Nagano by unanimous decision in the main event.

Ishioka got her first TKO victory against Hanako Kobayashi at Jewels 2nd Ring on February 4, 2009 (2009-02-04).

Ishioka then challenged the world's number one ranked female fighter Megumi Fujii. On July 11, 2009 (2009-07-11), Fujii submitted Ishioka by armbar at Jewels 4th Ring.

On December 11, 2009 (2009-12-11) at Jewels 6th Ring, Ishioka defeated Sally Krumdiack with a controversial finish in which Ishioka had Krumdiack in a weak armbar and the referee asked Krumdiack if she was okay. Krumdiack responded that she was, but the referee mistook the answer and incorrectly stopped the fight. Ringside officials recognized the mistake and it was expected that the fight would be ruled a no contest, but the result remained as a victory for Ishioka.

Ishioka got another victory at Jewels 8th Ring when she defeated pro-wrestler Mai Ichii by submission (armbar) on May 23, 2010 (2010-05-23).

In an upset on July 31, 2010 (2010-07-31) in the opening round of the 2010 Jewels Lightweight Queen Tournament, Ishioka was defeated by unanimous decision in her bout against Sakura Nomura, eliminating the favorite Ishioka from the tournament.

Ishioka and Celine Haga fought on October 10, 2010 (2010-10-10) at Jewels 10th Ring, with Ishioka winning a close but unanimous decision.

Ishioka faced Yuko "Amiba" Oya in a Jewels Lightweight Queen Tournament reserve match at Jewels 11th Ring on December 17, 2010 (2010-12-17). She defeated Oya by submission due to an armbar in the first round.

Ishioka rematched Seo Hee Ham on February 25, 2011 (2011-02-25) at DEEP: 52 Impact in Tokyo, Japan. She was defeated for the second time by unanimous decision.

Ishioka next faced Yuka Tsuji in a Jewels vs. Valkyrie bout at Jewels 15th Ring on July 9, 2011 (2011-07-09) in Tokyo, Japan. She was defeated by unanimous decision.

Ishioka faced "Windy" Tomomi Sunaba in Sunaba's retirement bout at Pancrase Progress Tour 3 on March 11, 2012 (2012-03-11). She defeated Sunaba by armbar submission in the second round.

After giving birth, Ishioka was scheduled to return to MMA on February 16, 2014, but her match had to be canceled when her opponent, Mika Nagano, announced her pregnancy.

Shoot boxing career

Ishioka had her first shoot boxing match on May 16, 2009 (2009-05-16), defeating Kanako Oka by unanimous decision at Jewels 3rd Ring.

Ishioka then participated in the 2009 Shoot Boxing Girls S-Cup on August 23, 2009 (2009-08-23), where she defeated Ai Takahashi by unanimous decision and lost against tournament winner Rena Kubota by TKO (corner stoppage, towel thrown in).

Other activities

Ishioka won the All-Japan RF Karate Championships -52 kg in 2007 and in 2009.

Ishioka has participated in a few grappling matches. The first one at Smackgirl Grappling Queen Tournament 2007 on September 24, 2007 (2007-09-24), where she was defeated via decision (0-2) by Yasuko Mogi. At Deep X 02 on December 2, 2007 (2007-12-02), Ishioka defeated Miki Aeba by armbar. On August 31, 2008 (2008-08-31), Ishioka was defeated by Kyoko Abe with an armbar submission at Gi Grappling 2008 during the first round of the Gi Grappling 2008 Queen Tournament expert -52.0 kg. Ishioka faced Jewels champion Ayaka Hamasaki in a grappling match at Jewels 14th Ring on May 14, 2011 (2011-05-14). She was defeated by split decision.

Personal life

On July 13, 2012 (2012-07-13), Ishioka announced that she was expecting a baby and would get married to a fellow karateka from Zendokai.

Kickboxing record

Legend:   Win   Loss   Draw/No contest

Championships and accomplishments