For the first time in RIZIN Fighting Federation history, the promotion is set to hold an event outside Japan, with the previously announced RIZIN Landmark 7 booked for November 4, 2023 in Azerbaijan.
The card will take place at the Baku National Gymnasium in Baku, Azerbaijan, and on Friday, RIZIN officials confirmed a number of fights for the event via press release.
Among them, featherweight champion Vugar Karamov (19-4), hailing from Azerbaijan, will make his first attempted title defense opposite Chihiro Suzuki (11-3). Karamov captured featherweight gold when he submitted promotional mainstay Mikuru Asakura at Super RIZIN 2 earlier this year.
Karamov, who competed once for Bellator MMA in 2019, has won his last four fights, all under the RIZIN banner.
Suzuki is getting his first title shot at the tender age of just 24 — but the promotion is striking while the iron is hot, with the Japanese talent coming off a knockout win against Bellator star Patricio Pitbull, also at Super RIZIN 2.
Also announced for RIZIN Landmark 7, another Azerbaijani fighter and 2019 Lightweight Grand Prix champion Tofiq Musayev returns, taking on Koji Takeda. Musayev was ousted from the Bellator MMA Lightweight Grand Prix earlier this year, but bounced back with a win over Akira Okada in July.
A teammate of both Vugar Karamov and Tofiq Musayev, Mehman Mamedov (6-6, 1NC) will compete for RIZIN for the second time when he takes on UFC veteran Justin Scoggins (15-6) in a flyweight bout.
The full list of bouts announced for RIZIN Landmark 7 thus far is as follows:
- Vugar Keramov (c) vs Chihiro Suzuki — for the RIZIN FF featherweight championship
- Tofiq Musayev vs Koji Takeda
- Nariman Abbasov vs Ali Abdulkhalikov
- Mehman Mamedov vs Justin Scoggins
- Tural Ragimov vs Kyung Pyo Kim
