Sixteen fighters will partake in the Rizin FF bantamweight grand prix, including former champ Kai Asakura.
Sixteen fighters are set for action in the Rizin FF bantamweight grand prix, but only one will pocket the grand prize.
On Monday, the promotion announced details of the 135-pound tournament, which includes a host of Rizin’s top names, including former champion [autotag]Kai Asakura[/autotag], leg lock legend [autotag]Masakazu Imanari[/autotag] and former finalist of “The Ultimate Fighter,” [autotag]Hiromasa Ogikubo[/autotag].
The first round will take place across two Rizin FF events in May, with subsequent rounds through the year culminating in the tournament finale, with the winner set to pocket ¥10,000,000 JPY (approximately $91,000). The runner-up will earn ¥5,000,0000 JPY (approximately $45,000).
The eight opening-round matchups were set in a live draw that was streamed on YouTube. The first-round matchups include:
[autotag]Takafumi Otsuka[/autotag] (28-17-2) vs. [autotag]Hiroki Yamashita[/autotag] (billed as “Shian”) (8-8)
[autotag]Kuya Ito[/autotag] (10-8-1) vs. [autotag]Yuto Hokamura[/autotag] (billed as “Kintaro”) (13-9-2)
[autotag]Yuki Motoya[/autotag] (27-9) vs. [autotag]Ryo Okada[/autotag] (17-4-3)
Kai Asakura (16-3) vs. [autotag]Shooto Watanabe[/autotag] (22-5-6)
[autotag]Kenta Takizawa[/autotag] (11-7) vs. Masakazu Imanari (38-19-2)
[autotag]Kazuma Kuramoto[/autotag] (8-1) vs. [autotag]Alan Yamaniwa[/autotag] (17-8-4)
[autotag]Takeshi Kasugai[/autotag] (26-7-1) vs. Hiromasa Ogikubo (21-5-2)
[autotag]Naoki Inoue[/autotag] (15-2) vs. [autotag]Shintaro Ishiwatari[/autotag] (26-8-4)
After the matchups were set, Asakura was given the opportunity, as a former Rizin FF champion, to swap places with any other fighter in the draw. He declined the offer and kept his originally-drawn matchup.
The eight opening-round fights will be split between two events. Four of the bouts will be part of the fight card at Rizin FF 28, which takes place Sunday, May 23 at the Tokyo Dome, which has an event capacity between 42,000 and 55,000 spectators. Currently, the arena has a permitted capacity of 10,000 due to COVID restrictions, but Rizin FF officials are hopeful the arena capacity could be increased to 50 percent of its full capacity by the day of the fights.
The remaining four fights will be contested at Rizin FF 29, which takes place Sunday, May 30 at Maruzen Intech Arena in Osaka.
Follow the results as they happen with MMA Junkie’s live coverage of Rizin FF 23 in Yokohama, Japan.
The lights come back on at Yokohama’s Pia Arena as the venue hosts its second event in successive days, with Rizin FF 23 completing the promotion’s double-header as they return with their second post-COVID-19 event, taglined “Calling Over.”
The main event features a battle for the vacant Rizin FF bantamweight title, as former title challenger [autotag]Kai Asakura[/autotag] gets a second successive shot at the vacant 135-pound belt against [autotag]Hiromasa Ogikubo[/autotag].
Asakura’s first attempt ended in a knockout defeat to Manel Kape, who has since departed the promotion to sign for the UFC. It means the strap is up for grabs once again, and the door has reopened for Asakura (14-2), who will now face Ogikubo (20-4-2), who booked his place in the title fight with a pair of split-decision victories over fellow contenders [autotag]Yuki Motoya[/autotag] and Shintaro Ishiwatari last year at Rizin FF 17 and 20 respectively.
With the title on the line in the main event, the co-headliner features a pair of contenders who will look to position themselves as the next man in line to fight for the belt.
Motoya was narrowly edged out by Ogikubo last year in a highly-competitive fight, and suffered a first-round submission loss to Bellator’s Patchy Mix at Rizin FF 20. But the 30-year-old rebounded with a decision win at DEEP 94 Impact in March to send him into Monday’s fight night in winning form.
He’ll take on [autotag]Mamoru Uoi[/autotag], (billed in Japan as Uoi Fullswing), who is looking to bounce back into the win column following back to back defeats for Japanese promotion Shooto.
His last appearance in the Rizin FF ring brought success, however, with a soccer kick KO giving him an eye-catching knockout victory at Rizin FF 16 last June. Now Uoi returns to Rizin hoping to rediscover that form and catapult himself into title contention in the process.
Rizin FF 23 live results include:
Kai Asakura vs. Hiromasa Ogikubo (for vacant bantamweight title)
MMA Junkie’s Simon Head looks ahead to Rizin FF’s end-of-year spectacular at the Saitama Super Arena on New Year’s Eve.
Things didn’t work out as originally planned for Rizin FF, but the Japanese promotion’s New Year’s Eve spectacular at the Saitama Super Arena will still finish with a wild scrap for their bantamweight title.
Rizin FF 20 was all set to feature the hotly-anticipated rematch between Kyoji Horiguchi and the man who shocked the MMA world when he finished the two-promotion bantamweight champion in their non-title meeting at Rizin FF 18 in October, [autotag]Kai Asakura[/autotag].
Asakura’s 68-second demolition of Horiguchi in Nagoya stunned the Japanese MMA community, and when Asakura (14-1, 6-0 Rizin FF) repeated the trick with a 54-second knockout of Ulka Sasaki at Rizin 19 that left the former UFC fighter with a broken jaw, it was clear that the 26-year-old was the undeniable number-one contender for Horiguchi’s title.
Everything seemed set for an end-of-year showdown in Saitama, but disaster struck in November when news emerged that Horiguchi had sustained a knee injury that would require surgery and an estimated layoff of around 10 months. But, in an honorable move from the American Top Team man, Horiguchi decided to relinquish his Rizin and Bellator bantamweight titles to free up the belts and allow Rizin to book an alternative title fight for New Year’s Eve.
Now the vacant bantamweight strap will be up for grabs in the night’s main event, with Asakura taking on the explosive [autotag]Manel Kape[/autotag] (, whose second-round knockouts of Seiichiro Ito and Takeya Mizugaki at Rizin FF 15 and 18 respectively made him a compelling replacement opponent for Dec. 31. And with Asakura taking the spoils when the pair battled to a split decision back in May 2018, there’s fighting pride, as well as a championship belt, at stake.
Hamasaki and Seo set for super-atomweight showdown
A second title fight will also feature at the top end of the main card, with reigning Rizin women’s super atomweight champion [autotag]Ayaka Hamasaki[/autotag] returning to action to face the challenge of South Korea’s [autotag]Seo Hee Ham[/autotag] in a title fight between fighters with a combined 51 fights to their name.
Hamasaki (19-2, 5-0 Rizin FF) captured the vacant title at Rizin FF 14 last December via second-round armbar finish of Kanna Asakura, then defended her title with a unanimous decision against Jihn Yu Frey in June. Most recently, she armbarred Suwanan Boonsorn in a non-title showcase at Rizin FF 18. Now she takes on former UFC strawweight Seo (22-8, 2-0 Rizin FF) Hee Ham, who hasn’t lost since departing the UFC at the end of 2016.
Rizin FF women’s atomweight champion: Ayaka Hamasaki (L) with Seo Hee Ham
Seo has won five in a row, with her last two victories coming via stoppage inside the Rizin ring. Tomo Maesawa was dispatched inside a round, then Seo finished Japanese amateur wrestling icon Miyuu Yamamoto via second-round TKO at Rizin FF 19 in October. Now the 32-year-old from Busan will bid to capture her second title since leaving the UFC as she aims to add the Rizin title to the Road FC atomweight title she won in December 2017.
Dolloway aims for redemption – and a championship belt
A USADA anti-doping suspension may have left [autotag]C.B. Dolloway[/autotag] unable to compete Stateside, but the MMA free-agent has been handed not just a lifeline, but the opportunity of a lifetime, as he takes on reigning champion [autotag]Jiri Prochazka[/autotag] for the Rizin light heavyweight title.
Dolloway (17-9, 0-0 Rizin FF) was handed a two-year ban by USADA after a pair out-of-competition tests came back positive, while an IV infusion was also adjudged to be over the allowable limit.
It resulted in Dolloway’s eventual release from the UFC, with the American seemingly banned from competition until mid-December 2020. But with Rizin not recognizing USADA’s suspensions, Dolloway is free to fight for the Japanese promotion, and will challenge the dominant champ Prochazka (25-3-1, 10-1 Rizin FF), who is riding a 10-fight, four-year win streak. The big Czech has finished nine of those 10 victories, with eight of those coming inside the opening round.
Lightweight grand prix reaches its climax
In addition to the three title fights on the card, Rizin FF 20 will also feature the two semifinals, then the final, of the promotion’s lightweight grand prix tournament.
The semis will see America’s [autotag]Johnny Case[/autotag] face off with dangerous Azerbaijani contender [autotag]Tofiq Musaev[/autotag], while the other half of the draw features Bellator star [autotag]Patricky Freire[/autotag], who will take on fellow countryman [autotag]Luiz Gustavo[/autotag].
The four men will contest their semifinal matchups early on the preliminary card, with the two winners facing off in the tournament final in the final bout before the intermission.
And finally…
Look out for Bellator bantamweight contender [autotag]Patrick Mix[/autotag], who will be representing his promotion with pride as he takes on former DEEP bantamweight champion [autotag]Yuki Motoya[/autotag].
Former King of the Cage bantamweight champ Mix has been one of the big success stories of Bellator’s lower weight classes after joining the promotion midway through the year and producing a pair of highlight-reel first-round submissions.
After his Suloev stretch finish of Isiah Chapman at Bellator 232, Mix told MMA Junkie he was only just scratching the surface of his capabilities, and now he gets the chance to showcase his grappling prowess inside the Rizin ring.
And perhaps the biggest reception of the night could come early on the card, as [autotag]Miyuu Yamamoto[/autotag] returns to action against [autotag]Suwanan Boonsorn[/autotag] (4-2, 0-1 Rizin FF). Yamamoto (5-4, 5-4 Rizin FF) is still competing in MMA and grappling tournaments at the age of 45, and the former amateur wrestling phenom and sister of the late, great Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto remains a firm favorite with the Japanese fight fans wherever she competes.
Multiple new additions have been added to December’s dual Bellator and Rizin FF cards in Japan, including five crossover contests.
Five additional fights have been added to the upcoming Bellator and Rizin FF joint cards being held in Saitama, Japan.
Bellator president Scott Coker shared the news of three crossover bouts that are headed to the Bellator 237 card at Saitama Super Arena, as well as two crossover bouts added to the Rizin FF 20 card also taking place at the same venue, two days later.
On the Bellator card, UFC veterans [autotag]Lorenz Larkin[/autotag] (21-7 MMA, 3-2 BMMA) and [autotag]Keita Nakamura[/autotag] (35-10-2 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) will both make quick turnarounds and square off in a welterweight bout. Since dropping his first two promotional bouts with Bellator, Larkin has won his last three in a row, most recently picking up a split-decision win over Andrey Koreshkov at Bellator 229. Nakamura made good in his Rizin debut, scoring a first round finish over Marcos Yoshio de Souza at Rizin FF 19.
Also headed to Bellator 237 is a women’s flyweight bout between [autotag]Ilara Joanne[/autotag] (9-4 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) and [autotag]Kana Watanabe[/autotag] (8-0-1 MMA, 0-0 BMMA). Joanne recently picked up the biggest win of her career, submitting UFC veteran Bec Rawlings in her Bellator debut last month. Joanne, who’s riding a three-fight winning streak, recently called out 125-pound champ Ilima-Lei Macfarlane, but instead draws Japan’s undefeated Watanabe.
The third bout added to Bellator 237 is a lightweight bout between [autotag]Goiti Yamauchi[/autotag] (24-4 MMA, 10-3 BMMA) and [autotag]Daron Cruickshank[/autotag] (22-12 MMA, 0-0 BMMA). Yamauchi is coming off back-to-back wins that include a decision over Daniel Weichel and a first-round submission over Saad Awad at October’s Bellator 229. Cruickshank, has dropped his last two in a row to Damien Brown and Tofiq Musaev, and he now looks to get back in the win column.
Meanwhile, on the Dec. 31 Rizin card, two bouts will take place under the Japanese promotion’s ruleset. [autotag]Yuki Motoya[/autotag] (23-7) faces undefeated [autotag]Patrick Mix[/autotag] (12-0) in a bantamweight bout, while [autotag]Mikuru Asakura[/autotag] (11-1) will take on [autotag]John Macapa[/autotag] (23-42) in a featherweight clash.
Meanwhile, Rizin officials announced a series of post-lim bouts to take place at Bellator 237, which the Japanese promotion is calling “Bellator Japan powered by RIZIN.”
The matchups include [autotag]Andy Nguyen[/autotag] (6-8) vs. [autotag]Ai Shimizu[/autotag] (5-1), [autotag]Ryuichiro Sumimura[/autotag] (14-7) vs. [autotag]Jon Tuck[/autotag] (10-5), [autotag]Jarred Brooks[/autotag] (15-2) vs. [autotag]Haruo Ochi[/autotag] (19-7-2) and [autotag]Hiroto Uesako[/autotag] (16-8) vs. [autotag]Yusuke Yachi[/autotag] (20-9).
