Saori Ishioka
Background. Ishioka was born on 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 . On , 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 , 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 at "Smackgirl 2007: Queens' Hottest Summer". She next defeated Miyuki Ariga, also by unanimous decision, in a match with special rules on 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 .<ref name="SMACK GIRL - 12/26/2007: 'Yuka Tsuji Is No Longer Interested In Megumi Fujii?'"></ref> Her winning streak came to an end on 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 at "Kingdom of Grapple mini Live in Summerfest!! '08". On , 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 . Ishioka then challenged the world's number one ranked female fighter Megumi Fujii. On , Fujii submitted Ishioka by armbar at "Jewels 4th Ring". On 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.<ref name="JEWELS  - 12/11/2009: Controversial Finish, ROUGH STONE GP Finals and More - Official Results"></ref> 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 .<ref name="JEWELS 8 - 05/23/2010: Ishioka and HIROKO Victorious, Nagano Loses - Full Results!"></ref> In an upset on 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 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 . She defeated Oya by submission due to an armbar in the first round. Ishioka rematched Seo Hee Ham on 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 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 . 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 , defeating Kanako Oka by unanimous decision at "Jewels 3rd Ring". Ishioka then participated in the "2009 Shoot Boxing Girls S-Cup" on , 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 , where she was defeated via decision (0-2) by Yasuko Mogi. At "Deep X 02" on , Ishioka defeated Miki Aeba by armbar. On , 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 . She was defeated by split decision. Personal life. On , Ishioka announced that she was expecting a baby and would marry a fellow karateka from Zendokai. Kickboxing record. Legend: