RIZIN 48 has been officially announced, and two title fights are among the match-ups revealed for the September event.
Set for September 29, 2024 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, RIZIN 48 will see Roberto Satoshi put his lightweight title on the line opposite Luiz Gustavo, while UFC alum Naoki Inoue will compete in a bantamweight title fight, vying from the promotion’s vacant 135lb title against South Korean Soo Chul Kim.
Promotion officials announced the event, and its first four match-ups, during Sunday’s Super RIZIN 3 broadcast, with additional details released to social media. Along with the two title fights, Kyohei Hagiwara will face Ryo Takagi, and Kanna Asakura will meet Seika Izawa, the promotion’s super atomweight champ, in a non-title affair.
Roberto Satoshi de Souza (16-3) last defended his RIZIN lightweight championship in April 2022, defeating Johnny Case. Since then, he has competed in non-title bouts, going 2-2 with losses to A.J. McKee and Patricky Pitbull in crossover events with Bellator MMA, prior to their sale to the PFL.
Luiz Gustavo (14-2) has won four straight under the RIZIN Fighting Federation banner, most recently defeating UFC vet Yoshinori Horie. The Brazilian’s only career defeats are to Patricky Pitbull and Mikuru Asakura.
As for Naoki Inoue (19-4), he went 1-1 in the UFC in 2017-18 and made his exit off a single loss to Matt Schnell. He’s 8-2 since then, and will enter RIZIN 48 off a win over Shoko Sato. Opposite him competing for the vacant RIZIN bantamweight crown will be Soo Chul Kim (22-7-1), who has won his last four fights between ROAD FC and RIZIN.
