The Abe Ani Combat Club is a mixed martial arts gym and training camp located in Japan.

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

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 wouldn't sanction the fight, giving the Brazilian until 8 pm to reach 149 pounds.

[3] After further negotiation and reported concessions from Strikeforce owner and president Scott Coker (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.

[5] The team's 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 interview with Jordan Breen.