Gabi Garcia has struggled for the entirety of her MMA career to find a matching opponent. At one point she even said something along the lines that she’d be open to fighting a man.
Gabi Garcia Disheartened By Lack Of Opponents, Might Face Off Against a Male
But Rizin has come through once again for her even though her opponent is quite surprising.
Garcia will next be facing Shinobu Kandori – a retired Japanese wrestler and now politician of the Liberal Democratic Party born in 1964?!
You’ve heard it right folks, the 5 ft 7 inches tall 52 year old will be the next opponent of Gabi Garcia. Kandori is also a one time bronze medalist at the Vienna World Championship in Judo (1984).
According to her wikipedia page the former olympic judoka first tried her hand at mixed martial arts as far back as 1995. Wikipedia:
A former Olympic judoka, Kandori made her debut in the mixed martial arts as part of the Ultimate L-1 Tournament promoted by LLPW in 1995. She faced the kickboxer Liz Africano at the first round and defeated her with ease, taking her down and locking a rear naked choke over her overwhelmed opponent. Kandori then advanced to the second round, where she fought wrestler Fieni Klee. Though Klee sprawled to a takedown attempt and locked a guillotine choke, Shinobu was able to escape it and took her back, gaining the rear naked choke again. At the finals, Kandori’s last opponent would be multiple judo medalist Svetlana Goundarenko, who outweighed Kandori by 100 ibs. Goundarenko pressed Shinobu against the fence to avoid her striking and tried a hip throw, but Kandori blocked it. After a brief punch combo by Kandori, however, Svetlana finally took Shinobu down and overpowered her, locking a neck crank and making Kandori tap out.
In 1998, Kandori fought a rematch against Goundarenko, again in a LLPW event. Cornered by former sumo champion Koji Kitao, Shinobu showed an improved submission defense, while her opponent fought more cautiously. Goundarenko threw Shinobu with ura nage and tried to smother her from the back, but the pro wrestler escaped. Then, blocking a hip throw and a kata guruma attempt, Kandori took her back and closed a guillotine choke, submitting Goundarenko for the win. The victory was followed by a big celebration, with LLPW president Rumi Kazama emotionally crying while rushing into the cage to congratulate Kandori.
神取忍VSギャビィ・ガルシア決定です。 pic.twitter.com/48PYmVbU30
— 髙田延彦 (@takada_nobuhiko) November 26, 2016
The fight will be happening December 31st! Mark your calendars
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