RIZIN Fighting Federation will host a second event on New Year’s Eve, putting on a morning show entitled Heisei’s Last YARENNNOKA featuring former UFC bantamweight Tatsuya Kawajiri.
Japan’s RIZIN FF have decided to host a second event on New Year’s Eve. In a press release distributed Tuesday, RIZIN officials announced an event they’re calling RIZIN: Heisei’s Last YARENNNOKA, which will take place on the morning of December 31 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. That’s the very same venue that will host RIZIN 14 later in the day, which is set to feature an exhibition boxing match between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and kickboxing sensation Tenshin Nasukawa.
Heisei’s Last YARENNNOKA, meanwhile, will run for three hours between 9AM and noon, approximately. The early card is set to feature former UFC fighter Tatsuya Kawajiri taking on Satoru Kitaoka in a lightweight main event. Kawajiri (36–12–2), who fought at bantamweight in the UFC, has been out just over a year, last fighting at RIZIN’s World Grand Prix 2017 Opening Round Part 2. He suffered a crushing knockout loss via a knee from Gabriel Oliveira that night. In his previous fight, he got back in the win column for the first time since 2015 when he scored a unanimous decision win over Anthony Birchak at RIZIN 5.
Confirmed bouts for RIZIN: Heisei’s Last YARENNNOKA are as follows:
Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Satoru Kitaoka
Jae Hoon Moon vs Kai Asakura
Kana Watanabe vs Shizuka Sugiyama
Yuta Uchida vs Takuma Konishi (kickboxing)
