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.

While the main event of Kleber Koike vs. Chihiro Suzuki is still intact, featherweight champ Koike missed weight for the event on Friday — and has been stripped of his title.

RIZIN Fighting Federation CEO Nobuyuki Sakakibara announced the news on social media, stating that “Kleber missed weight by 400g and tomorrows Championship bout has become quite chaotic! If Chihiro wins, he will be crowned as the rightful Champion, if Kleber wins, the Featherweight Championship will be vacant.”

Koike (31-6-1) is a former KSW featherweight champ who captured RIZIN gold last October. The match-up with Suzuki at RIZIN 43 was to have been his first attempt at a title defense, after the Brazilian-born Japanese star lost a non-title fight against A.J. McKee in December as part of the Bellator MMA vs. RIZIN supercard.

Prior to the loss to McKee, Koike had won seven straight fights, including bouts with RIZIN star Mikuru Asakura, and former UFC fighter Ulka Sasaki.

Chihiro Suzuki, who is now the only man able to win the featherweight title on Saturday, has won his last five bouts in MMA, while also competing in kickboxing and Muay Thai.

The post Kleber Koike Stripped of Featherweight Title After Missing Weight for RIZIN 43 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.

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