Japanese featherweight star [autotag]Mikuru Asakura[/autotag] produced another crowd-pleasing finish to defeat Mexico’s [autotag]Daniel Salas[/autotag] in their 150-pound bout at Rizin FF 21 in Shizuoka, Japan, then received an unexpected callout from a former champion.
Salas mixed up his strikes well in the opening round and looked to use his jab and reach to work from range, but was countered with stiff, crisp southpaw shots from Asakura, whose punches looked much more solid than those of the Mexican. That power advantage was evident in the final seconds of the round when Asakura first connected with a head kick, then landed a powerful right hand that briefly stunned Salas.
Salas came out for the second round switching stances in a bid to confuse Asakura, but the Japanese contender looked calm and composed as he stalked his opponent around the ring. He walked Salas onto a counter left hook, then moments later connected with a jumping switch kick to the body that drew gasps from the crowd.
Asakura could sense a finish, and he got one with a big head kick, which landed flush to Salas’ temple and sent him to the canvas. Asakura then followed his man to the mat and landed a final salvo of ground strikes to secure the knockout finish.
After the bout, a new challenge emerged in the form of 42-year-old former ONE lightweight champion [autotag]Kotetsu Boku[/autotag], who appeared with Rizin president Noboyuki Sakakibara to issue a challenge to the Japanese star, who looked less than impressed with the unexpected appearance of the man known to Japanese fans as “No Face”.
Henry calls for title shot after knockout win
In the night’s co-main event, American bantamweight contender [autotag]Victor Henry[/autotag] delivered a statement performance to finish Japanese veteran [autotag]Masanori Kanehara[/autotag] in the second round, before calling for a title shot in his own inimitable way.
After a cagey opening round, Henry loaded up on his punches at the start of the second stanza to score a quickfire knockout after the restart.
Two short right hands stunned Kanehara, who fell to the canvas in the corner. Henry moved in and landed more shots to his downed opponent before the referee moved in to stop the fight 45 seconds into the round.
With a second impressive stoppage victory under his belt in Rizin, Henry said he was ready to get a shot at the bantamweight title currently held by Portugal’s Manel Kape.
“I’ve been in the Rizin ring twice now,” he told the crowd after his victory. “The first time I ended it by submission. The second time, knockout of a legend. Whose leg do I gotta hump in order to get a title shot?”
Martinez KO’s ‘Shrek’ with twin head kicks
The most brutal finish of the night came in the heavyweight bout between American heavyweight [autotag]Roque Martinez[/autotag] and Japanese hulk [autotag]Hideki Sekine[/autotag].
Martinez (15-5-2) was clearly the more comfortable man in the stand-up as he regularly found a home for his punches and, after stuffing Sekine’s takedown attempts mid-way through the first round, let fly with his hands, then his feet, to score the big KO.
Martinez landed with a flurry of punches and eventually dropped Sekine (7-4) with a straight left before connecting with a soccer kick as the 46-year-old tried to get back to his feet.
The kick sent him back to his knees once again, and Martinez connected with a second, bigger, head kick that sent “Shrek” through the ropes and forced the referee to step in.
At first it looked like the official may be looking to bring Sekine back inside the ropes but, with the Japanese veteran clearly in no state to continue, the referee swiftly waved off the contest with just over a minute remaining in the opening round.
Jiu-jitsu ace Souza strikes back
The opening bout of the main card produced something of a surprise, as jiu-jitsu ace [autotag]Marcos Souza[/autotag] unleashed his striking to score a first-round TKO finish of Portugal’s [autotag]Falco Neto[/autotag].
Souza (9-2) was knocked out by Keita Nakamura on his Rizin debut at Rizin FF 19 in October 2019, and was widely expected to utilize his grappling skills to overcome Neto (11-11), who came into the bout with seven knockouts to his name.
But the Brazilian stayed on his feet, even when Neto ended up on the canvas, and unloaded a barrage of punches that eventually forced the referee to call an end to the bout at the 1:27 mark of the opening round.
Full Rizin FF 21 MMA results include:
MAIN CARD
- Mikuru Asakura def. Daniel Salas via knockout (head kick and punches) – Round 2, 2:34
- Victor Henry def. Masanori Kanehara via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 0:45
- Roque Martinez def. Hideki Sekine via knockout (soccer kicks) – Round 1, 3:57
- Marcos Souza def. Falco Neto via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 1:27
PRELIMINARY CARD
- [autotag]Kintaro[/autotag] def. [autotag]Kenji Kato[/autotag] via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 4:21
- [autotag]Naoki Inoue[/autotag] def. [autotag]Trent Girdham[/autotag] via unanimous decision
- [autotag]Vugar Karamov[/autotag] def. [autotag]Kyle Aguon[/autotag] via unanimous decision