RIZIN Fighting Federation rang in the New Year in the traditional way, with a New Year’s Eve extravaganza. While Bellator: Japan, a show which the Japanese MMA outfit co-promoted, was able to showcase the final Japanese fight of the great Fedor Emelianenko, RIZIN 20 was arguably the deeper card.

Unfolding at the Saitama Super Arena, the event boasted three title fights. Kai Asakura and Manel Kape battled for the bantamweight championship vacated by Kyoji Horiguchi just months ago. Ayaka Hamasaki was set to defend her super atomweight belt against former UFC fighter and ROAD FC standout Seo Hee Ham. Jiří Procházka, meanwhile, welcomed C. B. Dollaway to RIZIN, with the Czech fighter’s light heavyweight title on the line.

All that, plus the lightweight grand prix, Satoshi Ishii, fresh off a stint in the PFL, undefeated Bellator MMA prospect Patrick Mix, and more!

Check below for full results from RIZIN 20! The event kicks off on December 31, 2019 at 1AM ET! RIZIN 20 is available online via Fite.tv

RIZIN 20: Saitama Results

Main Card

Bantamweight: Kai Asakura vs. Manel Kape – For the vacant Rizin Bantamweight Championship…………Kape defeated Asakura via TKO in round two at 0:38
Catchweight 56kg: Tenshin Nasukawa vs. Rui Ebata – Kickboxing…………Nasukawa defeated Ebata via TKO in round one at 2:46
Super Atomweight: Ayaka Hamasaki (c) vs. Seo Hee Ham – For the Rizin Super Atomweight Championship…………Ham defeated Hamasaki via split decision
Featherweight: Mikuru Asakura vs. John Teixeira…………Asakura defeated Teixeira via unanimous decision
Catchweight 50.8kg: Rena Kubota vs. Lindsey VanZandt…………Rena defeated VanZandt via TKO in round three at 1:42

Preliminary Card

Lightweight: Winner of Semi-Final 1 vs. Winner of Semi-Final 2 – Lightweight Grand Prix Final…………Musayev defeated Freire via unanimous decision
Light Heavyweight: Jiří Procházka (c) vs. C. B. Dollaway – For the Rizin Light Heavyweight Championship…………Procházka defeated Dollaway via KO in round one at 1:55
Light Heavyweight: Simon Biyong vs. Vitaly Shemetov…………Biyong defeated Shemetov via TKO in round two at 0:57
Bantamweight: Shintaro Ishiwatari vs. Hiromasa Ogikubo…………Ogikubo defeated  Ishiwatari via split decision
Catchweight 105kg: Satoshi Ishii vs. Jake Heun…………Heun defeated Ishii via KO in round 1 at 1:12
Bantamweight: Yuki Motoya vs. Patrick Mix…………Mix defeated Motoya via guillotine choke in round one at 1:37
Catchweight 62kg: Taiju Shiratori vs. Taiga – Kickboxing…………Taiju Shiratori defeated Taiga via TKO doctor stoppage due to cuts
Super Atomweight: Miyuu Yamamoto vs. Suwanan Boonsorn…………Yamamoto defeated Boonsorn via unanimous decision
Lightweight: Patricky Freire vs. Luiz Gustavo – Lightweight Grand Prix Semi-Finals………Freire defeated Gustavo via TKO in round 1 at 0:28
Lightweight: Tofiq Musayev vs. Johnny Case – Lightweight Grand Prix Semi-Finals……..Musayev defeated Case via TKO in round 1 at 2:27

The post RIZIN 20 — Saitama Results appeared first on Cageside Press.

C.B. Dolloway will be out of action for a while. On Monday, USADA (U.S. Anti-Doping Agency), who handle the UFC’s Anti-Doping Policy, announced that Dollaway had accepted a two-year sanction after after a trio of infractions that took place between late 2018 and early 2019.

The fighter, currently competing in the UFC’s middleweight division, “tested positive for anastrozole, growth hormone releasing peptide 2 (GHRP-2 or pralmorelin), a metabolite of GHRP-2, and GHRP-6 as the result of an out-of-competition urine sample he provided on December 19, 2018,” USADA revealed via press release.

Months later, he “tested positive for clomiphene in an out-of-competition urine sample collected on February 9, 2019.” And in a third strike, Dollaway “received an over-the-limit intravenous (IV) infusion on December 13, 2018.” Although IV use is sometimes permitted under USADA and the UFC’s Anti-Doping Policy, injections or IVs of more than 100ml per 12 hour period is not allowed.

Dollaway’s three infractions were treated as a single, first-time infraction, meaning his two-year suspension became effective December 13, 2018, the date of the earliest violation.

After entering the UFC via The Ultimate Fighter in 2008, Dollaway (17–9) has been a regular, fighting at both light heavyweight and middleweight. Overall, he’s 11-9 in the big show, most recently suffering a ref stoppage loss to Khalid Murtazaliev at UFC Moscow last September. Prior to that, he’d earned wins over Hector Lombard and Ed Herman.

Coincidentally, Murtazaliev was also hit with a doping violation this year, and was suspended two years for steroid use. The Dollaway fight was his first in the UFC.

The post Longtime UFC Vet C.B. Dollaway Hit With Two-Year Ban by USADA appeared first on Cageside Press.

After losing four straight, many thought that former Bellator MMA middleweight champion Hector Lombard’s time in the UFC might be over. Despite his struggles, however, the promotion is giving him another look. The Cuban-Australian Olympic judoka, who has not won a bout since 2014, will face C.B. Dollaway at UFC 222 next March. The Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Adam Hill first reported the news.

Lombard (34–8–1 (2)) was tabbed by many as the man to beat Anderson Silva when he first moved over from Bellator. However, his UFC run went South in a hurry, with the fighter losing his promotional debut in a close split decision to Tim Boetsch. Subsequent to that, Lombard went 3-1, but any momentum he had built was derailed with a failed drug test for anabolic steroids after his 2015 bout with Josh Burkman at UFC 182. Lombard’s original win was overturned to a no contest; in addition, he was forced to sit out a year.

Since then, Lombard has dropped fights to Neil Magny, Dan Henderson, Johny Hendricks, and Anthony Smith. Lombard was finished in three of the four bouts. Now 39 years old, he’s in desperate need of a win.

C.B. Dollaway (16–8), meanwhile, recently snapped a three-fight losing streak of his own. Taking home a decision win over Ed Herman at the TUF 25 finale in July of this year, he’ll look to make it two in a row against ‘Showeather.’

UFC 222 takes place March 3, 2018 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, NV. No main event has been announced for the card.

The post Hector Lombard to Face C.B. Dollaway at UFC 222 appeared first on Cageside Press.