For the second consecutive Saturday, Japan’s RIZIN Fighting Federation was in action, with RIZIN 42 taking place in Tokyo on April 6, 2023.
A much bigger card than it’s RIZIN Landmark 5 counterpart, RIZIN 42 had a number of notable fights to present, including the return of Bellator MMA standout Juan Archuleta.
In the main event, former RIZIN bantamweight champion Kai Asakura was back in action, facing Japanese 40+ fight veteran Yuki Motoya. In the co-feature was former Bellator bantamweight champ Archuleta, returning to Japan for the second time to take on UFC alum Naoki Inoue. Another UFC alum and Bellator fighter, Spike Carlyle, was paired up with lightweight champ Roberto Satoshi Souza, in a non-title affair.
And kicking off the top four fights on the RIZIN 42 card on Saturday was the debut of Muay Thai legend Buakaw Banchamek.
Earlier in the night, meanwhile, Ulka Sasaki, another former UFC athlete, was in action against Boyd Allen, while two-time UFC flyweight title challenger John Dodson returned against Tatsuki Saomoto.
RIZIN 42 takes place at the Tokyo Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan on Saturday, April 6, 2023, airing live on Fite.tv. Full results can be found below. The action gets underway at 1AM ET.
RIZIN 42 Results
Kai Asakura def. Yuki Motoya by knockout (knee), Round 3, 2:25
Juan Archuleta def. Naoki Inoue by unanimous decision
Roberto Satoshi Souza def. Spike Carlyle by unanimous decision
Buakaw Banchamek vs. Rukiya Anpo ruled a majority draw — Kickboxing
Intermission
YA-MAN def. Kota Miura by TKO, Round 1, 3:13 — Special rules
John Dodson def. Tatsuki Saomoto by unanimous decision
Kazumasa Majima def. Takahiro Ashida by submission (Von Flue choke), Round 1, 4:43
Ulka Sasaki def. Boyd Allen by unanimous decision
Viktor Kolesnik def. Atsushi Kishimoto by TKO, Round 2, 2:57
Erson Yamamoto def. Yuki Ito by unanimous decision
Takeji Yokoyama def. Takuya Yamamoto by submission (arm-bar), Round 1, 1:24
Ramazan Temirov def. Yuta Hamamoto by TKO, Round 1, 4:06
Sota Kimura def. Yasuhiro Kido by unanimous decision — Kickboxing