Japan’s RIZIN Fighting Federation was in action Saturday, with RIZIN 43 emanating from Sapporo, Hokkaido.
The main event featured a featherweight title fight between Kleber Koike, a Brazilian-born Japanese talent and former KSW champ, and Chihiro Suzuki. But after missing weight during Friday’s official weigh-in, Koike had been stripped of his featherweight title, a move announced by RIZIN CEO Nobuyuki Sakakibara.
The end result of that move was that, come fight night, only Suzuki was eligible to win the belt — were Koike to claim victory, the championship would remain vacant.
A similar situation had befallen UFC champ Charles Oliveira last year.
Also on the RIZIN 43 card, homegrown star Yusuke Yachi was paired up with Bellator MMA vet Zach Zane, while heavyweight Hideki “Shrek” Sekine was in action against Mikio Ueda.
RIZIN 43 takes place on Saturday, September 24, 2023 at the Makomanai Ice Arena in Sapporo, with the card streaming live via Fite.tv. Full results can be found below.
RIZIN 43 Results
Kleber Koike vs. Chihiro Suzuki ruled a No Contest (originally an armbar submission win for Koike, overruled as he missed weight) — for the vacant Rizin Featherweight Championship (only Suzuki is eligible to win title)
Yusuke Yachi def. Zach Zane by submission (rear-naked choke), Round 1, 2:50
Mikio Ueda def. Hideki Sekine by TKO, Round 1, 0:22
Hiroaki Suzuki def. Taisei Nishitani by TKO, Round 1, 0:56
Hiroki Suzuki def. Genji Umeno by KO (knee), Round 2, 2:34 — Kickboxing rules
Intermission
Minoru Kimura def. Daryl Lokoku by KO (punch), Round 1, 1:08 — Kickboxing rules
Yuta Kubo def. Takeaki Kinoshita by split decision
Saori Oshima def. Haruka Hasegawa by submission (V cross arm lock), Round 1, 1:16
Suguru Nii def. Tateo Iida by TKO (strikes), Round 1, 2:32
Tetsuya Seki def. Raiki Endo by unanimous decision
Joji Goto def. Trent Girdham by submission (twister), Round 2, 2:34
Aoi Kuriyama def. Marina Kumagai by KO, Round 1, 2:48
Kensei Yamakawa def. Ryoga Hirano by TKO, Round 3, 1:22 — Kickboxing rules
Opening Bouts
Toshiki Watanabe def. Kento Azumi by submission (kneebar), Round 1, 1:07 — Special rules
Suguru Hayasaka def. Daiki Maruyama by submission (arm-triangle choke), Round 1, 3:33 — Special rules
Aito Tanimura def. Ryuya Koide by TKO, Round 1, 0:55 — Kickboxing rules
Shoki Hoshikubo vs. Kazuyuki Furukawa ruled a No Contest (originally a unanimous decision for Hoshikubo, who missed weight) — Kickboxing rules
