RIZIN Fighting Federation will be holding its annual New Year’s Eve extravaganza this year, which happens to coincide with the promotion’s 10th anniversary.
That makes RIZIN 49 a milestone event for the Japanese promotion, which as a result has named the card RIZIN Decade, while announcing its first fight: a featherweight title fight featuring Chihiro Suzuki and Kleber Koike.
Promotion officials revealed the news with a press conference and accompany media release on Tuesday.
Chihiro Suzuki (13-3, 1NC) captured the promotion’s featherweight title in something of an upset in November 2023, when he defeated Vugar Karamov. Suzuki has defended the title once since, against UFC veteran Masanori Kanehara.
The fight with Koike (33–7–1, 1NC) is a rematch of the pair’s June 2023 meeting, which saw then-champ Kleber Koike stripped of his title for missing weight. That left only Suzuki eligible to win gold, but after Koike won the bout by submission, the title was left vacant (due to RIZIN rules, Koike’s win was overturned to a No Contest because of his weight miss).
Since his first fight with Suzuki, Koike has posted a 2-1 record, losing a decision against Kanehara, but bouncing back with submissions of Yutaka Saito and former Bellator MMA champ Juan Archuleta.
RIZIN Decade (RIZIN 49) is set for the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan on December 31, 2024.
