While Oktagon MMA and the UFC were in action Saturday, first up at the plate this weekend was RIZIN Fighting Federation, whose RIZIN Landmark 14 ran Saturday locally in Sendai, and Friday night into Saturday morning for western fight fans.
The night’s main event saw flyweight champion Hiromasa Ougikubo, a veteran of The Ultimate Fighter, looking to defend his title against fellow Japanese star Makoto Takahashi.
With victories over John Dodson and Jose “Shorty” Torres, Ougikubo had put together an impressive five-fight win streak culminating in claiming flyweight gold from Yuki Motoya. Yet in his first title defense, Ougikubo went the distance with Takahashi, and came out on the wrong side of a unanimous decision.
Takahashi avenged a prior loss to Hiromasa Ougikubo with the win, evening their career series. That could set up a rematch, though another fighter on the RIZIN Landmark 14 card could have something to say about that.
That would be Canadian flyweight standout Tony Laramie, brother of former UFC featherweight T.J. Laramie. Tony was paired up with ex-champ Yuki Motoya in the night’s co-main event, a fight that went the distance and saw Laramie win a spirited unanimous decision. Spirited and dominant; with RIZIN now featuring 10-point must scoring, Laramie picked up two 30-26 scores, and a 30-25.
The BTC and PFC champion is now 4-1 in RIZIN, and has won three straight. Having picked up a win over a former champion, it’s clear the Windsor, Ontario native is circling a title shot.
Full results from the RIZIN Landmark 14 card can be found below.
RIZIN Landmark 14 Results
Makoto Takahashi def. Hiromasa Ougikubo by unanimous decision (30-29,、30-27,、29-28)
Tony Laramie def. Yuki Motoya by unanious decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-25)
Satoshi Kamiyama def. Ryo Sakai by TKO, Round 1, 1:16
Noah Bey def. Bilal Kai Haga by KO, Round 2, 0:10
Yusuke Yachi def. Isao Kobayashi by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Daichi Tomizawa def. Rui Kato by TKO, Round 1, 4:37
Naoki Tanaka def. Kaisei Kuroi by TKO, Round 1, 3:37
Seiya Inoue def. Koki Akada by KO, Round 3, 0:28
Hayato Kikuchi def. Taylan Yuasa by split decision (20-18, 19-19, 20-18) – ruleset states winner must be declared, 19-19 must awarded to Yuasa
Koya Saito def. Kazuki Yamagishi by TKO, Round 1, 1:25 – kickboxing
Sho Uchida def. Daichi Akahira by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) – kickboxing
Yusuke Iwaki def. Sho Nakaizumi by KO, Round 3, 0:47
