All fighters made weight for Sunday’s RIZIN 10 card, which is topped by Kyoji Horiguchi taking on Ian McCall in one of the best lighter-weight match-ups outside the UFC.
RIZIN 10 takes place Sunday, May 6, and for Western fans, the return of Japanese MMA means getting up bright and early. Or staying up extra late. Either way, it’s a card worth losing a little sleep over. With a main event of Kyoji Horiguchi vs. Ian McCall, and a host of top names including teenage striking sensation Tenshin Nasukawa, it’s a must-see event. Undefeated in both MMA and kickboxing, Nasukawa represents the future of Japanese MMA — or at least, that’s what the promotion is no doubt hoping.
Headliner Ian ‘Uncle Creepy’ McCall said of Horiguchi that “that is actually the only fight I wanted. I’m most dangerous in wrestling and scrambles. But I am going to bring a fight, I don’t ever want to get near the ropes ever again so we are going to kick box. When I fight, we get in to a fight.” In McCall’s last appearance, he had his night cut short after suffering a nasty cut from the ring ropes.
Also on the card, former UFC star Daron Cruickshank continues his run in Japan, taking on Koshi Matsumoto. Cruickshank is 2-2 in RIZIN, and looking to get back in the win column after dropping two straight. WEC, Bellator, and UFC veteran Diego Nunes, meanwhile, will look to make it four straight wins in about ten months when he meets Yusuke Yachi. Yachi has proved to be a dangerous fighter, and has won five straight, including victories over Cruickshank and Takanori Gomi.
Also keep an eye on Ayaka Hamasaki, who returns to Japan to fight for the first time since vacating her Invicta FC strawweight title.
The full results from the RIZIN 10 weigh-in are as follows:
Kyoji Horiguchi (60.8kg) vs Ian McCall (60.75kg)
Yusaku Nakamura (57.65kg) vs Tenshin Nasukawa (57.85kg)
Kanna Asakura (48.75kg) vs Melissa Karagianis (48.95kg)
Diego Nunes (69.75kg) vs Yusuke Yachi (69.75kg)
Daron Cruickshank (69.85kg) vs Koshi Matsumoto (69.95kg)
Issei Ishii (51.4kg) vs Daishin Sakai (51.3kg)
Manel Kape (59.0kg) vs Kai Asakura (58.9kg)
Ayaka Hamasaki (48.85kg) vs Alyssa Garcia (49.0kg)
Ante Delija (110.3kg) vs Ricardo Prasel (107.25kg)
Jairzinho Rozenstruik (111.35kg) vs Andrey Kovalev (103.4kg)
Kanako Murata (53.6kg) vs Lanchana Green (53.7kg)
Tomohiro Kitai (62.8kg) vs Kurogi Darvish (62.85kg)
