The latest offering from RIZIN Fighting Federation took place at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan on Sunday, with a featherweight title fight headlining the show. In addition, the opening round of the RIZIN 2025 Heavyweight World Grand Prix kicked off, and a number of familiar names including John Dodson and Danny Sabatello were also in action.

In the main event, featherweight champion Kleber Koike Erbst looked to defend his RIZIN title against the undefeated Razhabali Shaidulloev of Kyrgyzstan. A former KSW champ, Koike was on his second stint as the RIZIN featherweight champion.

Promotional mainstays Mikuru Asakura and Chihiro Suzuki faced off in the evening’s co-main event, while Daniel James, a Bellator and PFL alum, took on Marek Samociuk in the aforementioned heavyweight grand prix. James had missed weight for the fight, but RIZIN dropped their “no contest” rule that traditionally saw fighters missing weight see wins turned to no contests. That allowed the grand prix to move forward, though James would start the bout with a red card and point deduction.

Where to Watch RIZIN Otoko Matsuri

RIZIN Otoko Matsuri takes place on Sunday, May 4, 2025 at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan. The card is available to stream via RIZIN.tv, with action getting underway at midnight ET, 9PM PT. Full results can be found below, as can select prelims.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3a_Td_c6tU

RIZIN Otoko Matsuri Results

Razhabali Shaidulloev def. Kleber Koike (c) by KO, Round 1, 1:02 – for the RIZIN FF featherweight championship
Mikuru Asakura def. Chihiro Suzuki by TKO (Doctor’s Stoppage), Round 3, 1:56
Kyoma Akimoto def. Ryo Takagi by unanimous decision
Kyohei Hagiwara def. Taisei Nishitani by KO, Round 1, 3:36
Mikio Ueda def. Shoma Shibisai by TKO, Round 1, 1:03 – RIZIN Heavyweight World Grand Prix 1st Round
José Augusto def. Tsuyoshi Sudario by unanimous decision – RIZIN Heavyweight World Grand Prix 1st Round

Intermission 

Marek Samociuk def. Daniel James by unanimous decision – RIZIN Heavyweight World Grand Prix 1st Round
KOUZI vs. Sina Karimian ends in a time limit draw – Kickboxing
Makoto Shinryu def. Yuki Ito by unanimous decision
Daisuke Nakamura def. Taisei Sakuraba by submission (arm-bar), Round 2, 2:01
Danny Sabatello def. Shinobu Ota by TKO, Round 3, 0:20
HIROYA def. Tatsuki Shinotsuka by TKO (Corner Stoppage), Round 1, 2:11
Takaki Soya def. John Dodson by unanimous decision
Taio Asahisa def. Yoshiya Uzatsuyo by KO (head kick), Round 2, 1:16 – Kickboxing
Erson Yamamoto def. Daichi Tomizawa by submission (rear-naked choke), Round 2, 1:24
Joe Hiramoto def. Toki Tamaru by unanimous decision

Opening Ceremony

Yugo Nakaya def. Hiro Sasaki by unanimous decision – Special Rules MMA
Vinicius Silveira def. Takako Ueda by unanimous decision – Special Rules MMA
Futa Hashimoto def. Daichi Akahira by unanimous decision – Kickboxing

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RIZIN Decade serves as the promotion’s annual New Year’s Eve extravaganza, and features a full three title fights, three parts (RIZIN 49 Part 1, Part 2, and to kick things off, RIZIN Bangaichi), and has a total of 22 combat sports bouts scheduled.

In the main event, Chihiro Suzuki puts his featherweight title on the line against a former  champ in Kleber Koike. It was Suzuki who faced Koike back in 2023 when the Brazilian missed weight, leading to him being stripped of the title and the fight ending in a No Contest.

Vugar Karamov, the man Suzuki went on the defeat to win featherweight gold, looks to claim a lightweight title against Roberto Satoshi earlier in the night. Flyweight champ Kyoji Horiguchi, long a UFC standout and later a Bellator and RIZIN bantamweight champ, is in the co-main event, defending his 125lb title opposite Nkazimulo Zulu.

Where to Watch RIZIN 49/Decade

Set on New Year’s Eve in Japan, RIZIN 49 gets underway at 11PM ET, 8PM PT on Dec. 30, and will carry on into New Year’s Eve morning for those staying up late. The event takes place at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, streaming live on RIZIN.tv. Full results from the event can be found below.

RIZIN Decade Results

RIZIN 49 Part 2:

Kleber Koike def. Chihiro Suzuki (c) by unanimous decision – for the RIZIN featherweight championship
Kyoji Horiguchi (c) def. Nkazimulo Zulu by unanimous decision – for the RIZIN flyweight championship
Roberto Satoshi Souza (c) def. Vugar Karamov by submission (triangle), Round 1, 4:45 – for the RIZIN lightweight championship
Seika Izawa def. Lucia Apdelgarim by submission (triangle arm-bar), Round 1, 2:21
Yuki Motoya def. Kyoma Akimoto by unanimous decision

INTERMISSION

RIZIN 49 Part 1:

Razhabali Shaidulloev def. Yuta Kubo by TKO (ground n’ pound), Round 2, 2:30
Karshyga Dautbek def. YA-MAN by unanimous decision
Ryuya Fukuda def. Ryusei Ashizawa by KO (punches), Round 1, 0:54
Mikio Ueda def. Kim Tae-In by KO (knees), Round 2, 2:31
Jose Torres def. Makoto Shinryu by split decision
Taisei Sakuraba def. Yusuke Yachi by TKO, Round 1, 0:26
Koji Takeda def. Suguru Nii by technical unanimous decision
King Edokpolo def. Takakenshin by KO (knee and punches), Round 1, 3:22
Genji Umeno def. Taiga by unanimous decision
Sanou Yokouchi def. Kenshin Saito by submission (rear-naked choke), Round 1, 3:03 – RIZIN Koshien Final

RIZIN Bangaichi

Rukiya Anpo def. Sina Karimian by unanimous decision (60-54, 60-54, 60-54) – Exhibition Boxing (RIZIN Standing Special Rules bout)
Sho Patrick Usami def. Issa Hosokawa by TKO, Round 2, 2:59 – Kickboxing
Tatsuki Shinotsuka def. Aoi Noda by TKO, Round 1, 2:07 – Kickboxing
Daichi Tomizawa def. Kota Miura by KO (knee/punches), Round 1, 1:53 – Special Rules MMA
Taio Asahisa def. YURA by unanimous decision – Kickboxing
Hyuma Yasui def. Hiroaki Suzuki by unanimous decision
Hiroto Gomyo def. Koki Playboi Akada by split decision

The post RIZIN Decade Full Results appeared first on Cageside Press.

In the main event, featherweight champ Chihiro Suzuki looked to make the first defense of his 145lb title, against long-time MMA veteran and UFC alum Masanori Kanehara. Despite being young in both age and in his MMA journey, Suzuki had made a habit of upsetting veterans in the past, with wins over Masakazu Imanari and Patricio Pitbull.

Also fighting on a rare Monday card, former title hopeful Makoto Shinryu returned against Lee Jung Hyun of South Korea, while former 145lb champ Juntaro Ushiku faced off with Olympic silver medalist wrestler Shinobu Ota in the night’s co-headliner.

The card would also feature RIZIN’s first foray into bareknuckle boxing, the lone non-mixed martial arts contest on Monday’s line-up.

Where to Watch RIZIN 46

RIZIN 46 goes down at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan on Monday, April 29, 2024. The event streams live via RIZIN Pass. Full results from the card can be found below. The action gets underway at 3AM ET.

RIZIN 46 Results

Chihiro Suzuki (c) def Masanori Kanehara by TKO, Round 1 – for the RIZIN featherweight championship
Shinobu Ota def. Juntaro Ushiku by unanimous decision
Kim Soo Chul def. Taichi Nakajima by TKO, Round 2
Makoto Shinryu def. Lee Jung Hyun by submission (arm-triangle), Round 1
Kazuma Kuramoto def. Yang Ji Yong by split decision
Beynoah def. Yusaku Inoue by unanimous decision
Viktor Kolesnik def. Yoshiki Nakahara by unanimous decision
Tatsuki Shinotsuka def. Justyn Martinez by KO, Round 1 – bare knuckle
Ilkhom Nozimov def. Sora Yamamoto by TKO, Round 2
Ryo Takagi def. Taisei Nishitani by KO (right hand), Round 1

The post RIZIN 46 Full Results appeared first on Cageside Press.

The fight, announced during Sunday’s RIZIN 45 broadcast, will take place at RIZIN 47. No other fights have been announced for the card, which is expected to take place at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo on May 6, 2024.

Suzuki (12-3) shocked fight fans by scoring what can only be considered an upset win against Vugar Karamov to claim the featherweight title at RIZIN Landmark 7 in Azerbaijan last month. An upkick inside the first two minutes of their title fight helped put the Azerbaijani away, much to the chagrin of the partisan crowd.

Prior to that, he got the better of Bellator double-champ Patricio Pitbull.

Suzuki was on hand at RIZIN 45 at the Saitama Super Arena, and said that while he respects Masanori Kanehara, he intends to retire the veteran.

Kanehara (31-14-5), at 41-years old, is 17 years the elder of Chihiro Suzuki. He’s seen a late career resurgence since exiting the UFC in 2016, winning six of his next seven fights. Activity, or lack thereof, has been the primary concern for Masanori Kanehara, but he did win both of his fights in 2023, including a unanimous decision victory over ex-featherweight champ Kleber Koike Erbst.

More fights are likely to be announced for RIZIN 47 in the new year.

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The main event of the promotion’s monumental first show in the country featured Azerbaijan’s own Vugar Karamov, the promotion’s reigning featherweight champion, putting his title on the line against Japan’s Chihiro Suzuki. Karamov, who has also competed for Bellator MMA, captured the championship against promotional mainstay Mikuru Asakura earlier this year.

Also in action on Saturday at the National Gymnastics Arena in Baku, Azerbaijan was another Bellator alum and longtime RIZIN fighter, Tofiq Musayev. He was set to take on Koji Takeda, who was looking to halt a two-fight skid. Musayev had last been seen at Super RIZIN 2, where he got back in the win column after having been bounced from the Bellator Lightweight Grand Prix in the Quarterfinal round.

Where to Watch RIZIN Landmark 7

RIZIN Landmark 7 in Azerbaijan goes down Saturday, November 4, 2023 at the National Gymnastics Arena in Baku, Azerbaijan, with an English-language live stream available via Fite.tv. The card gets underway at 9AM ET. Full results from the event can be found below.

RIZIN Landmark 7 Results

Chihiro Suzuki def. Vugar Karamov (c) by KO, Round 1, 1:18 — for the RIZIN featherweight championship
Tofiq Musayev def. Koji Takeda by TKO (punches), Round 3, 2:03
Ali Abdulkhalikov def. Nariman Abbasov by unanimous decision
Mehman Mamedov def. Fergit Goktepe by unanimous decision
Kyung Pyo Kim def. Tural Ragimov by KO, Round 1, 0:21

Intermission

Anastasiya Svetkivska def. Farida Abdueva by submission (arm-bar), Round 2, 4:20
Ilkhom Nozimov def. Juares Dea by unanimous decision
Vladislav Rudniev def. Iliyar Askhanov by unanimous decision
Shota Betlemidze def. Quentin Domingos by TKO (injury), Round 1, 5:00
Hasan Mezhiev def. Konstantin Merkulov by submission (rear-naked choke), Round 1, 2:32

The post RIZIN Landmark 7 Full Results appeared first on Cageside Press.

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

The post RIZIN Landmark 7, Promotion’s First Show Outside Japan, Adds Title Fight and More Bouts appeared first on Cageside Press.

The main event featured a featherweight title fight between Kleber Koike, a Brazilian-born Japanese talent and former KSW champ, and Chihiro Suzuki. But after missing weight during Friday’s official weigh-in, Koike had been stripped of his featherweight title, a move announced by RIZIN CEO Nobuyuki Sakakibara.

The end result of that move was that, come fight night, only Suzuki was eligible to win the belt — were Koike to claim victory, the championship would remain vacant.

A similar situation had befallen UFC champ Charles Oliveira last year.

Also on the RIZIN 43 card, homegrown star Yusuke Yachi was paired up with Bellator MMA vet Zach Zane, while heavyweight Hideki “Shrek” Sekine was in action against Mikio Ueda.

RIZIN 43 takes place on Saturday, September 24, 2023 at the Makomanai Ice Arena in Sapporo, with the card streaming live via Fite.tv. Full results can be found below.

RIZIN 43 Results

Kleber Koike vs. Chihiro Suzuki ruled a No Contest (originally an armbar submission win for Koike, overruled as he missed weight) — for the vacant Rizin Featherweight Championship (only Suzuki is eligible to win title)
Yusuke Yachi def. Zach Zane by submission (rear-naked choke), Round 1, 2:50
Mikio Ueda def. Hideki Sekine by TKO, Round 1, 0:22
Hiroaki Suzuki def. Taisei Nishitani by TKO, Round 1, 0:56
Hiroki Suzuki def. Genji Umeno by KO (knee), Round 2, 2:34 — Kickboxing rules

Intermission

Minoru Kimura def. Daryl Lokoku by KO (punch), Round 1, 1:08 — Kickboxing rules
Yuta Kubo def. Takeaki Kinoshita by split decision
Saori Oshima def. Haruka Hasegawa by submission (V cross arm lock), Round 1, 1:16
Suguru Nii def. Tateo Iida by TKO (strikes), Round 1, 2:32
Tetsuya Seki def. Raiki Endo by unanimous decision
Joji Goto def. Trent Girdham by submission (twister), Round 2, 2:34
Aoi Kuriyama def. Marina Kumagai by KO, Round 1, 2:48
Kensei Yamakawa def. Ryoga Hirano by TKO, Round 3, 1:22 — Kickboxing rules

Opening Bouts

Toshiki Watanabe def. Kento Azumi by submission (kneebar), Round 1, 1:07 — Special rules
Suguru Hayasaka def. Daiki Maruyama by submission (arm-triangle choke), Round 1, 3:33 — Special rules
Aito Tanimura def. Ryuya Koide by TKO, Round 1, 0:55 — Kickboxing rules
Shoki Hoshikubo vs. Kazuyuki Furukawa ruled a No Contest (originally a unanimous decision for Hoshikubo, who missed weight) — Kickboxing rules

The post RIZIN 43 Full Results appeared first on Cageside Press.

Taking place at the Makomanai Sekisui Heim Ice Arena in Sapporo, the event is set to feature a featherweight title fight as its main event, with Kleber Koike (31-6-1) defending his title against Japanese youngster Chihiro Suzuki (10-3).

RIZIN Fighting Federation officials announced the news during Saturday’s RIZIN 41 broadcast. And unlike the promoter vs. Muay Thai legend fight the promotion announced as an April Fool’s Day joke, this one is legit.

Koike, a Brazilian-born fighter of Japanese and German descent, will be making the first defense of his featherweight title in the fight. The 33-year old is coming off a loss to Patricio Pitbull in a non-title fight as part of the Bellator MMA vs. RIZIN card on New Year’s Eve.

That loss snapped a seven-fight win streak Koike, a former KSW champ, had compiled.

Suzuki has won five straight bouts, and has not lost a fight since dropping his promotional debut in 2021. Staying active, the 23-year old has also competed in Muay Thai and kickboxing, under the KNOCK OUT banner.

Suzuki’s last win in MMA came on New Year’s Eve, when he knocked out Yoshiki Nakahara.

No other fights have been announced for RIZIN 43 as of yet.

The post RIZIN 43 Announced for Sapporo, Featuring Featherweight Title Fight appeared first on Cageside Press.

The TRIGGER series “will be a platform to provide opportunities to regional fighters, veterans to turn around their careers and also give regional fans the LIVE RIZIN event experience,” promotion CEO Nobuyuki Sakakibara was was cited as saying in a press release Thursday.

One unique twist: the TRIGGER series will, for the first time, see RIZIN athletes compete in a cage.

“There are many fighters who are looking to compete overseas, where the cage is more common. We would like to provide opportunities to RIZIN fighters to be able to compete in both platforms to prepare themselves for higher competition. Our original cage is currently being built and hopefully it’s done on time,” Sakakibara stated.

RIZIN TRIGGER 1 will take place November 28, 2021 in Kobe, Japan at the Kobe Memorial Hall. In addition to MMA, a number of kickboxing fights will also take place. The card as announced on Thursday breaks down as follows:

Shoji vs Kyohei Hagiwara
Shian vs Uoi Fullswing
Tatsuki Saomoto vs Takashi Matsuba
Chihiro Suzuki vs Sora Yamamoto
Strasser Kiichi vs Takahiro Kawanaka
Ryuichiro Sumimura vs Yusaku Kinoshita
Makoto Kamaya vs Daiki Tsubota
Keisuke Okuda vs Grant Bogdanove
Kenji Kato vs Katsuya Fujiwara
Hiroto Ichimura vs Tepparith – Kickboxing
Tsubasa Morii vs FUJIMON♡ – Kickboxing
Jin Mandokoro vs Yu Hiramatsu – Kickboxing
Momoka Mandokoro vs Miku – Kickboxing

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