The women’s super atomweight title is on the line as Japanese promotion Rizin FF returns for Rizin FF 27 in Nagoya, Japan.
Defending champion [autotag]Ayaka Hamasaki [/autotag]wil take center stage in the main event when she puts her title on the line against challenger [autotag]Kanna Asakura[/autotag]. Two-time champ Hamasaki (21-3) captured the promotion’s vacant 108-pound title by defeating Asakura at Rizin FF 14 on New Year’s Eve, 2018, but lost her title to South Korea’s Seo Hee Ham in her third title defense at Rizin FF 20 a year later.
Hamasaki bounced back with a submission victory over Tomo Maesawa at Rizin FF 22 to set up another shot at the vacant title at Rizin FF 26, where she submitted Miyuu Yamamoto in the first round via leg scissors to reclaim the title.
Now Hamasaki will take on Asakura (18-4) once again, with the challenger heading into the rematch riding a four-fight winning streak.
Since her defeat to Hamasaki in 2018, Asakura has defeated Alesha Zappitella, Jayme Hinshaw, Mizuki Furuse and Ai Shimizu to push her back to the top of the contender list at 108 pounds.
The co-main event features Japan-based Brazilian grappler [autotag]Roberto de Souza[/autotag] (10-1), who will take on Japanese veteran and former lightweight King of Pancrase [autotag]Kazuki Tokudome[/autotag] (20-10-1).
Rizin FF 27 results include:
- Champ Ayaka Hamasaki vs. Kanna Asakura – for women’s super atomweight title
- Roberto de Souza vs. Kazuki Tokudome
- Takasuke Kume vs. Koji Takeda
- Kleber Koike Erbst def. Kazumasa Majima via submission (triangle choke) – Round 2, 3:02
- Tsuyoshi Sudario def. Kazushi Miyamoto via knockout (punch) – Round 1, 0:08
- Yoshinori Horie def. Tetsuya Seki via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 1:16
- Hiroki Yamashita def. Kazuma Sone via knockout (punch) – Round 1, 0:27
- Shooto Watanabe def. Takumi Tamaru via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 4:13
- Yutaro Muramoto def. Seigo Yamamoto via knockout (punch) – Round 1, 2:37
- Yuki Ito def. Kohei Sugiyama via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 0:33