Amidst a flux period for female MMA in Japan, Greatest CommonMultiple are swinging the cage doors open for women.

The Japanese company, responsible for the popular Cage Forceseries, will launch their new, all-female MMA series Valkyrie onNov. 8, looking to fill the void left for MMA's women by theall-but-official end for Japan's flagship female promotionSmackgirl.

Smackgirl was born in May 2001 from the ashes of the ill-fated, butwatershed all-female promotion ReMix, and promoted over 50 MMA andgrappling events featuring a large contingent of the sport's topwomen.

After an accumulation of debt and financial instability, Smackgirland parent company Kilgore began 2008 with designs on reinventionand rebirth. However, the promotion ran into difficulties withsponsors and broadcasters, who pulled their support for theorganization.

Smackgirl was set to stage their 2008 ReMix tournament finale cardon July 24, but was forced to postpone the event twice amidstmounting speculation of imminent dissolution. The promotion has notformally folded, but no future activity is expected from thebrand.

Valkyrie is not GCM's first all-female MMA project, having promotedthe short-lived Cross Section series in 2004. This time, however,GCM are looking to come out swinging in style.

The Nov. 8 debut for Valkyrie will be a twin-bill with thecompany's Cage Force brand at Differ Ariake in Tokyo. Valkyrie willkick off a doubleheader of MMA action in the afternoon, with theCage Force card following in the evening. Valkyrie's inaugural mainevent will feature the return of female MMA super-eliteYuka Tsuji, asthe 115-pound queen takes on gifted grappling prospectV Hajime.

Smackgirl's long-tenured 115-pound champion, Tsuji has not foughtsince defending her title last December, taking a unanimousdecision victory over spunky South KoreanSeo Hee Ham.The bout was Tsuji's first to go the distance over a nine-fight,three-and-a-half-year span, which included submissions ofEricaMontoya andHisaeWatanabe, and a first-round clobbering of the only woman toever defeat her, Ana Michelle Tavares.

"I'll fight like a beast in the cage," said Tsuji of her impendingcage debut. "I'm really looking forward to it."

Hajime, a slick jiu-jitsu player, won Smackgirl's 115-pound NextCinderella rookie tournament last year, but lost her undefeatedstatus last December, dropping a split decision to hot prospectEmiFujino.

GCM have also announced that former Smackgirl executive TakeshiNagao and Japanese female BJJ pioneer Yasuko Mogi will serve asevent producers for the upstart promotion.

For the time being, Valkyrie fights will be contested over threethree-minute rounds. For novice fighters, strikes to the head onthe ground will be prohibited. For veteran females,ground-and-pound will be permitted, although elbow strikes on themat will still be barred. However, GCM officials have conceded thatdepending on the development of the promotion, the rule structuremay be tweaked in the future.