The Abe Ani Combat Club is a mixed martial arts

Mixed martial arts

Mixed Martial Arts is a full contact combat sport that allows the use of both striking and grappling techniques, both standing and on the ground, including boxing, wrestling, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, muay Thai, kickboxing, karate, judo and other styles. The roots of modern mixed martial arts can be...

 gym and training camp located in Japan. The gym is renowned mostly for its female staple of fighters who were regular competitors in the Smackgirl

Smackgirl

Smackgirl was a Japanese mixed martial arts promotion focused solely on female fighters. The promotion also held grappling and amateur events along with its main line of professional MMA cards. After financial difficulties throughout 2008 the promotion was sold to Marverous Japan Co.,Ltd...

 promotion. On its roster are prominent MMA stars such as Megumi “Mega Megu” Fujii

Megumi Fujii

Megumi Fujii is a female Japanese mixed martial artist. She is currently the #3-ranked pound-for-pound female MMA fighter in the world by MMARising.com and the #1-ranked female flyweight according to the Unified Women's MMA Rankings.-Biography:Fujii specializes mainly in submission fighting and is...

 and Hitomi Akano

Hitomi Akano

, is a Japanese female mixed martial artist. She uses a song she penned herself called "Between the Sky" as her entrance music.Akano is a former Smackgirl Middleweight Champion at 128 pounds...

. Owner and Head Coach Hiroyuki Abe

Hiroyuki Abe

, also known as Abe Ani, is a Japanese former mixed martial artist, currently retired from fighting and teaching full time at his gym, Abe Ani Combat Club...

 teaches Mixed Martial Arts and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Former UFC Heavyweight Champion Josh Barnett

Josh Barnett

Joshua Lawrence Barnett is an American mixed martial artist and professional wrestler who currently fights in the heavyweight division of Strikeforce. Barnett has been an accomplished fighter in mixed martial arts, winning the UFC Heavyweight Championship and the King of Pancrase Openweight...

 is a wrestling coach for the team.

Men

Hiroyuki Abe

Hiroyuki Abe

, also known as Abe Ani, is a Japanese former mixed martial artist, currently retired from fighting and teaching full time at his gym, Abe Ani Combat Club...

 Masatoshi Abe Hiroshi Masabuchi Yusuke Masuda Yasuhiro Motomura Takafumi Otsuka Yoshitomo Watanabe

Women

Hitomi Akano

Hitomi Akano

, is a Japanese female mixed martial artist. She uses a song she penned herself called "Between the Sky" as her entrance music.Akano is a former Smackgirl Middleweight Champion at 128 pounds...

 Megumi Fujii

Megumi Fujii

Megumi Fujii is a female Japanese mixed martial artist. She is currently the #3-ranked pound-for-pound female MMA fighter in the world by MMARising.com and the #1-ranked female flyweight according to the Unified Women's MMA Rankings.-Biography:Fujii specializes mainly in submission fighting and is...

 Aiko Ushizuka Hitomi Sakamoto

Hitomi Sakamoto

Hitomi Sakamoto is a female wrestler from Japan.-External links:*...

 Sayaka Shioda Yasuko Tamada

Yasuko Tamada

is a Japanese female mixed martial arts fighter. She previously fought as a flyweight in the Valkyrie promotion and was the first and only Valkyrie Flyweight Champion...

 Rina Tomita Ayaka Hamasaki

Ayaka Hamasaki

is a Japanese female kickboxer and mixed martial artist. She has fought in MMA promotions Shooto and Jewels. Hamasaki won the first Jewels Lightweight Queen tournament to become the first lightweight champion of the promotion....

Strikeforce controversy

The club was involve in a controversy during mixed martial arts event Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Diaz

Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Diaz

Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Diaz was a mixed martial arts event held by Strikeforce on April 11, 2009 at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California. It was the first event promoted by Strikeforce after their acquisition of assets from the defunct EliteXC promotion through its parent company ProElite. It...

, the inaugural fight card for San Jose based fight promoter Strikeforce

Strikeforce

Strikeforce is a U.S.-based mixed martial arts and kickboxing organization based in San Jose, California. It is headed by CEO Scott Coker and owned by Zuffa, LLC...

 under their new Showtime broadcast deal on April 11, 2009. Hitomi Akano

Hitomi Akano

, is a Japanese female mixed martial artist. She uses a song she penned herself called "Between the Sky" as her entrance music.Akano is a former Smackgirl Middleweight Champion at 128 pounds...

, former Smackgirl

Smackgirl

Smackgirl was a Japanese mixed martial arts promotion focused solely on female fighters. The promotion also held grappling and amateur events along with its main line of professional MMA cards. After financial difficulties throughout 2008 the promotion was sold to Marverous Japan Co.,Ltd...

 125-pound fighter, was to meet Chute Boxe

Chute Boxe Academy

The Chute Boxe Academy opened as a Muay Thai academy in 1978 in Curitiba, Brazil. Head trainer Rudimar Fedrigo later expanded the program in 1991 to include Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and other aspects of modern mixed martial arts. By 1995, the Chute Boxe team was considered a prime training ground for...

 fighter Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos

Cristiane Santos

Cristiane Justino Venancio Santos is a Brazilian mixed martial artist and the Strikeforce Women's Featherweight Champion . Santos won the title on August 15, 2009 by defeating Gina Carano via TKO...

 in the 145 pound weight division. During the initial weigh-ins Santos was unable to meet the cutoff, weighing in at 152 pounds. Cyborg reportedly weighed more according to some claims by AACC staff and trainers. Not wanting to risk her health and future against a significantly larger fighter, Akano initially refused to go through with the fight and the California State Athletic Commission

California State Athletic Commission

The California State Athletic Commission regulates professional boxing, professional and amateur kickboxing and professional mixed martial arts throughout the State by licensing all participants and supervising the events....

 wouldn't sanction the fight, giving the Brazilian until 8PM to reach 149 pounds. After further negotiation and reported concessions from Strikeforce owner and president Scott Coker

Scott Coker

Scott Coker is the founder and CEO of Strikeforce, a mixed martial arts organization based in the United States.Scott Coker is an Ernie Reyes protege and full-contact fight promoter covering Kickboxing, K-1, and MMA...

 (which are rumored encompass an increased presence of fight team members on the promotion's cards), she finally agreed to the match at a catchweight of 150 pound, the lightest weight Santos ultimately made. Giving up close to 15 pounds to a vastly larger fighter, Akano lost the fight via TKO but gained the respect of Showtime commentators for taking the fight despite the disparity.

Team members, trainers, and administration rallied around her following the event. Fellow fighter, and one-time trainer, Megumi Fujii blasted Santos as well as the Chute Boxe Academy calling them "shameful" and accused Cyborg of cheating. Team wrestling coach Josh Barnett relayed similar sentiments on his MySpace blog, and manager Shu Hirata also displayed his disgust of the situation in his Sherdog Radio

Sherdog

Sherdog is an American website devoted to the sport of mixed martial arts . The site is a member of the Crave Online network and provides MMA related content for ESPN.com.- History :...

interview with Jordan Breen. All three, however, praised Coker for his professionalism during the negotiations.