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湘南美容 SBC Shonan Beauty Clinic presents RIZIN.40 RIZIN vs. BELLATOR 全面対抗戦 [All-Out Battle] That's right, everyone. It's time for the greatest of mixed martial arts traditions: The big, stupid, wonderful Japanese MMA New Year's Eve special. Like so many things in JMMA, the grandest night of the combat sports year has its roots in professional wrestling. In the middle of laying on his back and kicking Muhammad Ali in the shins, Antonio Inoki had a beautiful dissociative episode about putting on batshit entertainment cards with nonsensical fights for the glee of thousands of people on bootlegged internet streams, and it took another twenty-four years, but by god, he got there. The first big NYE special, in tribute to the famous Ali fight, was the year 2000's Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye, a card built around the holy struggle between wrestling and MMA, and even though all of the card was presented as worked professional wrestling, the fever dream matchups that NYE specials would become known for are still present, from Marks Coleman and Kerr wrestling a tag team match against Yuji Nagata and Takashi Iizuka to THE NSANE 1 Justin McCully battling armbar innovator Yoshiaki Fujiwara to Gary Goodridge having to pretend to be afraid of Shinya Hashimoto to a main event that was just a three-minute-long grappling exhibition between Antonio Inoki himself and Renzo Gracie that ended with Inoki trying to convince the crowd that yes, he was definitely about to make Renzo Gracie tap out to an abdominal stretch. It was silly. It was stupid. And it was beautiful. The tone it set has lived on for decades across multiple promotions. Inoki continued promoting NYE Bom-Ba-Ye events when he didn't have something silly like being in the Diet to worry about, but the Japanese combat sports arms race was never so keenly felt as NYE during its boom era, when Pride's Shockwave supershows would directly compete with K-1's Dynamite!! supershows, and by god if you did not use both exclamation points they would sue you. The cards would mix some of the sport's biggest fights--Fedor vs Nogueira, Hunt vs Cro-Cop, KID vs Genki, Akiyama vs Sakuraba--with some of its silliest spectacles. Untrained 7'2" professional wrestler Giant Silva fought #3 heavyweight Heath Herring on NYE. Akebono, the first foreigner to ever reach Yokozuna in Sumo, fought UFC 1 champion Royce Gracie on NYE. Ikuhisa Minowa won the fictional Super Hulk Championship against Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou on god damned NYE. Every major JMMA organization since the mid-2000s has been chasing the dream of a return to the Pride days. Every JMMA fan who counts themselves as truly hardcore has made the digital pilgrimage of staying up until some ungodly hour in their time zone to see Nobuhiko Takada hitting taiko drums in his underwear, or Antonio Inoki descending to the ring dressed as Jesus on an actual cross, or some of the best fighters in the world putting on unbelievable displays of heart and ability just minutes after a stand-up comedian kickboxed a former NFL player. It's the spiritual lifeblood of an entire genre of the sport. It's no coincidence that Rizin, the heir apparent, started its life as a pair of New Year's Eve supershows in 2015, and it's no coincidence that Scott Coker, quite possibly the most successful nerd in the history of mixed martial arts promotion, has been trying to recapture that magic stateside for years, from naming Bellator shows for Dynamite's legacy to sending his fighters overseas to participate in the spectacle. This show is his dream: An honest to god New Year's Eve international co-promotion supershow between Bellator and Rizin, the best vs the best, just to see whose fighters are truly, undeniably better. It's one of the greatest rarities in the sport, and it's going to be an exceptional exhibition of legitimate dream matches. But there's also still a 45 year-old fighting a top athlete, a sumo wrestler vs a kickboxer, and a fight with an intentionally unannounced mystery opponent. Because it's New Year's loving Eve. Date: Saturday, 31 December 2022 14:00 JST (00:00 ET Friday night / Saturday morning) Venue: Saitama Super Arena, Chūō-ku, Saitama, Saitama Prefecture, Japan How Can I Watch?: The five Rizin vs. Bellator fights will air on Showtime via tape delay, Saturday night 12/31 from 8 PM to 10 PM ET. US viewers can watch the “RIZIN 40” portion of the card on fite.tv for $15, and international viewers can watch the entire show live on fite.tv for $20. So get your computer to Portugal or India or wherever, and stay up all night with us. ”Destroy with the respect and honor of the land of martial arts.” Sakakibara says that UFC’s influence in MMA is around 80 - 85%, so Rizin and Bellator have gotten together to do something UFC isn’t doing to truly penetrate into the global market. He likens it to the World Cup of MMA, pitting best against the best, both sides fully committed. He says it shouldn’t be a one time thing, but something that continues to help both Sakakibara and Coker leave their legacy on the world of MMA. Scott Coker is proud of the guys he’s sending, a current world champion and several former world champs as well. He thinks the Bellator fighters have more to lose, as the Rizin fighters don’t have as strong world rankings. RIZIN vs. BELLATOR All-Out Battle Roberto Satoshi Souza (14-1) vs. AJ McKee (19-1) (155) Roberto “Satoshi” Souza is 7-1 in Rizin, and none of his fights have gone to a decision. His last loss was via TKO to Johnny Case in 2019, but his most recent fight was a revenge victory via arm bar over Johnny Case in April. He’s the second fiddle at Bonsai Jiu Jitsu, and he takes grappling matches almost as much as MMA. He has grappling draws with Gordon Ryan and Jake Shields on his resume. His biggest MMA win is over Tofiq Musayev, the rest has mostly been Rizin feeding him Japanese fighters for him to grapple to death. His win over Musayev crowned him the first (and current) Rizin Lightweight Champion, which he defended over Yusuke Yachi and Johnny Case. McKee is 19-1 in Bellator, with 6 TKO and 7 submission wins. He won the Featherweight Grand-Prix, and is a former Featherweight champ. He lost that belt by doing precisely zero things in his rematch with Patricio Pitbull, then moved up to Lightweight to do battle with Spike Carlyle to return to his winning ways. The Rizin preview questions whether doing battle in a ring for the first time will be a challenge for McKee. Both Satoshi Souza and Kleber Koike fight out of Bonsai Jiu Jitsu, which is a team you see a lot of in Rizin. Founded in São Paulo by Adilson Souza in 1993, three of his sons (Mauricio, Marcos, and Satoshi), came to Japan and founded the Japanese branch in 2004. In 2011 Adilson passed away and Mauricio returned to run the school in Brazil, while Marcos and Satoshi remained in Japan. Kleber Koike is their most famous and successful student. The legendary shooter Nobuhiko Takada is a purple belt in Bonsai Jiu Jitsu, and Alan “Hiro” Yamaniha and Hideki “Shrek” Sekine also train here. The Souzas and Kleber are fluent in Japanese, so they are able to work the Rizin press circuit and raise their stature along with their fighting skills. “Born in Bellator. Raised in Bellator. The hero of the new generation.” AJ McKee feels fighting in Japan is a dream come true. He feels that wherever his opponent is weakest, he’s strong enough in that area to take advantage, whether it be striking or grappling. AJ is fighting in Japan, same as his dad, Antonio, back in 2012, a TKO loss to Shinya Aoki. Now AJ is back to redeem the McKee family name. “The Jiu-Jitsu Gods probably live in the World of MMA, too.” Souza says all he needs is one opportunity and he’ll get a submission and prove that JMMA is still strong. There is talk that Bellator might feature Souza in the upcoming Lightweight Grand Prix, and Souza is more than happy to face Bellator fighters next year. Souza notes he needs to be careful early in the fight, as AJ starts strong. Kleber Koike (31-5-1, 1-1 SB) vs. Patricio Pitbull (34-5) (145) Only two months ago, Kleber Koike Erst finally reached the top of the RIZIN Featherweight division by defeating Juntarou Ushiku to capture the title via triangle. That marked his 6th straight submission victory in his undefeated Rizin run. Since 2011 he has two decision losses in KSW (most recent loss to UFC #7 lightweight Mateusz Gamrot) and 25 wins. Kleber also has a questionable strength of schedule, but he has some name wins over his 14 year career: Miguel Torres, Yusuke Yachi, Kazumasa Majima, and Mikuru Asakura. Koike is one of the best non-UFC fighters in the world, and this represents him finally getting a real test in the Rizin ring. Koike came to Japan when he was 14 with migrant worker parents and happened to meet Mauricio Souza on a work bus and joined Bonsai Jiu Jitsu, so he has achieved his success entirely under the tutelage of the Souza family at Bonsai. Patricio Freire is 22-5 in Bellator, with 8 TKO and 5 submission wins. He’s a two-time Featherweight tournament champ (Gosh, I remember and kind of miss the days of Bellator’s All Tournaments format), a former Lightweight champ, and a three-time, including the current Featherweight champ with eight total title defenses, and one defense on this current reign. Patricio Pitbull is 5 inches shorter in this battle, but he is also a high-level fighter with a BJJ black belt that may have the skills to nullify the previously-invincible BJJ of Koike. “A vicious Pitbull that will bite when released” Pitbull feels a lot of pressure, as he’s got the most wins and title fights in Bellator history. He feels obligated to win for Bellator. He says he’s a calm fighter, but will become vicious when needed. Shingo Kashiwagi, Rizin’s chief booker, notes that Patricio is a complete fighter without any holes in his game. Pitbull says Kleber is good at BJJ, and would have success in Bellator, but would never become champion as long as Patricio is around. Pitbull says he’s not afraid to go to the ground, will defend Kleber’s submissions, and knock him out. Patricio is excited to fight in Japan like Patricky, who was runner-up in the 2019 Rizin Lightweight Grand Prix, losing to Tofiq Musayev. Patricio will avenge Patricky, even if he isn’t fighting the guy that beat Patricky. “Did you know random weeds can also bloom beautiful flowers?” Kleber is excited to represent Japan. He wants to show the world how tough Japanese fighters are. Sakakibara offered the fight to Kleber the day before the press conference by telling Kleber that since Patricio was participating, Rizin’s Featherweight champ would have to fight as well, otherwise everyone would say Kleber’s a low down dirty quacking ducker. Kleber’s sensei, Kazuo Misaki convinced him by saying he always sought out the toughest fights, like the time he booted Akiyama in the skull on NYE 2007. Misaki says him and Kleber are both emotional fighters who don’t think things through, and that Kleber will go in there to brawl. Kleber left Japan and the responsibilities of teaching, taking care of his business, and his family, to train in Thailand. Kleber notes he made mistakes in past fights, and since Patricio is so good, a single mistake will cost him the fight. Kleber says now he fights to protect what he has - friends, family, a place he wants to be. Hiromasa Ougikubo (25-6-2, 1-0 SB) vs. Kyoji Horiguchi (30-5, 0-1 KB) (125) Ultimate Fighter and Rizin veteran Hiromasa Ougikubo lost a decision to Soo Chul Kim in September, so of course he’s fighting above him on the NYE card. He appeared on the TUF Flyweight Champions season as the Shooto champion, but lost to Tim Elliott in the finals and did not ever fight in the UFC proper. Back in September I theorized that if both guys won at RIZIN 38 they might meet at NYE. I forgot that this is Japan, your record doesn’t matter. The Kim fight was at 134 pounds, so this will see Ougikubo back at his more natural weight. It feels weird to include Horiguchi on the Bellator portion of the write-up, because the dude is 1-2 in the promotion while he is the current Rizin Bantamweight champion. He beat Darrion Caldwell in 2019 to claim the Bantamweight title (having choked out Caldwell in 2018 to become Rizin’s 135 lb champ), then didn’t fight inside the Circlegon again until 2021, losing the belt to Sergio Pettis by 4th round knockout of a fight he was handily winning. Then Kyoji entered the Bantamweight Grand Prix and lost a decision to Patchy Mix in 2022. He has not defended his Rizin title since winning it at NYE 2020 over Kai Asakura. “Damnit, I’m still alive. I went in there to die.” Ougikubo thinks he could become UFC champion, but feels his last job is to make Rizin’s Flyweight division the best in the world, where fighters go to become the best. Ougikubo and Horiguchi are connected. Kyoji made his debut after Hiromasa, but it wasn’t long before Ougikubo was the one chasing Horiguchi. They first met in 2013 for Shooto’s Featherweight title, and Kyoji won the belt with a second round submission. The second match came in 2018, at Rizin 11. Hiromasa had some early success, dropping Kyoji in the first round, but Horiguchi took over as the fight progressed. Kyoji thinks Hiromasa tends to mentally break when they fight. Hiromasa feels when those weaknesses show, he’s not fit to be a fighter. He wanted to quit fighting entirely after losing to Kyoji in the rematch. In 2021, Hiromasa won the Bantamweight Grand Prix on New Year’s Eve, and immediately proposed to his girlfriend, Kyoka. In November, Hiromasa’s child, Hiyuu, was born, giving him even more to fight for. Ougikubo is told 9 out of 10 people are predicting Horiguchi to win, and he doesn’t blame them. The 1 out of 10 is Hiromasa’s friends and family. “He’s so popular. You can’t get married if you’re not popular. I won’t be able to get married. I’m unpopular!” Kyoji notes that since there’s MMA every weekend in America, the coaches at American Top Team watch everything to find new techniques and then try them out in training to see what works and what doesn’t. He says there aren’t any coaches in Japan with that set up, and he feels that’s why Japanese MMA is lacking, they don’t have a Mike Thomas Brown. Horiguchi says he wasn’t struggling at Bantamweight, despite back to back losses to Sergio Pettis and Patchy Mix after having captured both Rizin and Bellator’s 135 lb titles, but his true weight class is Flyweight. He feels if he really wanted to become the best in the world, it would have to be as a Flyweight. Soo Chul Kim (18-6-1) vs. Juan Archuleta (26-4) (135) Soo Chul Kim fought in Rizin once in 2015, but has made Road FC his home, where he is the current Road FC bantamweight champion. At 30 he has been around so long in MMA that he actually fought on the first ONE FC show in 2011, and his record also includes a loss to Bibiano Fernandes, a draw with Marlon Sandro, and a win over Marcus Brimage. He actually retired from MMA in 2017, but made his return during the pandemic. In September 2021 he lost to Hae Jin Park via guillotine for the vacant title but then back in May they had a rematch and Kim won via TKO to take the championship. His last fight in September was a decision victory over Hiromasa Ougikubo, to earn him this spot on the big show, representing Rizin with a Rizin record of… 2-0. Archuleta is 8-3 in Bellator with 2 TKO wins. He’s a former Bantamweight world champ, taking a decision win over Patchy Mix for the vacant title in 2020, then losing the belt in his first defense to Sergio Pettis in 2021. He lost to Raufeon Stots for the interim title in the Bantamweight Grand Prix, suffering a headkick knockout. Rizin’s profile is sure to note that Juan Archuleta conquered FOUR weight classes in the legendary King of the Cage promotion, winning the flyweight, bantamweight, lightweight, and junior welterweight titles. “Has continued to polish his passionate Spanish fighting spirit in the country of the MMA giant USA” Rizin’s booker, Shingo Kashiwagi says Archuleta is “massive like a comic book character”. Archuleta himself says he doesn’t run his mouth like a modern day fighter, he lets his fighting style speak for itself. That style: high octane wrestling. Archuleta feels like a gladiator being chosen to fight in the Coliseum, one man’s will against another. Honor, respect, glory. Juan has always wanted to fight in Japan after watching the legends of the PRIDE ring like Fedor, Wanderlei, and Dan Henderson throw down in the Saitama Super Arena. “My wife told me if I won in Rizin, she would buy me a Nintendo Switch. She promised me, but she didn’t buy me one after I won in September. I will beat Archuleta and make sure I secure the Nintendo Switch this time.” In proud Korean MMA tradition, Soo Chul Kim is a charming, brawling zombie that never backs down. Kim says he’s got a stronger mind than anybody, will continue to press forward the entire time, and secure the win with his iron will. Koji Takeda (15-3) vs. Gadzhi Rabadanov (18-4-2) (155) Koji Takeda is 10-0 outside of Rizin but only 5-3 in it. For some reason he fought and defeated Juri Ohara three times in DEEP. Two months ago he defeated 15-13 Zach Zane via first round arm bar. His gimmick is that he has tanned himself to be extremely orange. He also does a lot of german suplexes in shoot fights. This will be a battle of Greco-Roman suplex wrestling vs. traditional “you’re allowed to grab the legs” wrestling. Rabadanov is 3-0 in Bellator, with 1 TKO win. He knocked out Daniel Carey in his promotional debut just shy of 4 minutes in the first round back in 2021, then notched a pair of decisions this year over Jay Jay Wilson and Bobby King. Overall, he boasts 6 TKO and 5 submission wins, and a pair of KO losses to Gusein Esenbaev in 2013, and a submission defeat at the hands of Kuat Khamitov in 2016. I assure you, those are real people who exist. Probably. The Rizin profile indicates that he has been sent to Rizin as “an assassin for Khabib Nurmagomedov.” It also claims that Khabib will be the “captain of Team Bellator.” “I’ve wrestled Russians before, the athleticism is different.” Takeda loves challenging tough guys, it’s what motivates him. Takeda looks for clinches and seems to hit a lot of German suplexes. He also notes that while he could keep the fight standing when he fought Satoru Kitaoka, who prior to Rabadanov, was the toughest grappler he’d faced, he can’t just strike with Gadzhi. “Stamina demon, grappling demon, is what describes him.” Rabadanov is the newest in a long line of scary Dagestan wrestlers from Khabib’s camp. He’s good at using striking to set up takedowns, or using the threat of takedowns to open up his striking. RIZIN.40 RIZIN WORLD GP2022 Super Atomweight Tournament Final Round Seika Izawa (8-0) vs. Si Woo Park (9-4, 0-1 KB) (108) At 25 and 8-0, Seika Izawa has already essentially cleaned out the atomweight division in MMA. Her path to the GP final included submission wins over Laura Fontoura and an Anastasiya Svetkivska that had already lost in round 1, but she also defeated her opponent Si Woo Park in October 2021 in DEEP. Looking at the atomweight rankings, I suppose she could still challenge herself against Jillian DeCoursey and maybe a 45-year-old Mina Kurobe? The weight class is thin at an international level. Si Woo Park defeated 2017 GP winner Kanna Asakura and former champion Ayaka Hamasaki via decision to reach the finals, so she is definitely the #2 in the division. But has 14 months provide enough room for her to grow into someone that has a chance against Seika Izawa? “I might have a weak heart, but I have the ability to win.” Izawa was very excited to face international competition in the Grand Prix, noting the stylistic differences between Japanese fighters and those from overseas. JMMA legend Megumi Fujii notes that Izawa has the ability to adapt to each moment during the fight at an extremely high level. Izawa notes how quickly Park got back to her feet during their first fight last year in DEEP Jewels, saying Park wanted nothing to do with Izawa on the ground. Izawa says she simply does not know how to lose, even if she’s mentally broken, she will find a way to win the fight. “I will redeem myself, and the stage is set.” Park says the fight has two elements: Izawa looking for submissions, Park looking for knockdowns. Fujii marvels at Park’s strength, takedown defense, and striking abilities. Atomweight queen, Seo Hee Ham says that if Park continues to improve at the current rate, Si Woo will be the best Atomweight in the near future. Strong praise from the mighty Hamderlei. Park also reflects on the first fight with Izawa, saying if it wasn’t for a red card due to an illegal soccer kick, she would have won, saying she felt Izawa mentally broke after that point. Maybe, but it was still an illegal blow, Si Woo! Undercard Naoki Inoue (15-3) vs. Kenta Takizawa (13-8) (134) Naoki Inoue is 5-1 in Rizin and, improbably, fights out of Longo and Wideman MMA. In 2017, he was signed to the UFC at age 19 as the youngest Japanese fighter ever. He went 1-1 in the UFC then took a loss in Cage Fury and returned to Japan. He was on a 6-fight win streak until he lost to Hiromasa Ougikubo at last year’s NYE show, and he hasn’t fought since then. He was supposed to fight Takizawa at Rizin 37 in July but got injured. Kenta Takizawa also lost last year at NYE, to Kai Asakura. Both of those fights were the semi-finals of the Bantamweight GP, so this is the third place match, a year later. Who will be the Croatia of the Rizin Bantamweight division? Takizawa has much less shine on his name, with a 3-3 Rizin record where the three wins were over people with middling records and the 3 losses were to people with good records. But he was ranked third in Japan at karate, when he was in third grade. Sakakibara notes that with Horiguchi dropping to Flyweight, it’s likely that the Bantamweight title will have to be vacated, and a new champion will be found in 2023. Takizawa says he’s going to beat Inoue on NYE and become the champ next year. Inoue thinks it would be really neat to win the belt. “Well, then go ahead and beat my brother if you can.” Naoki is classified as S-Level at all aspects of MMA. Unfortunately, Naoki isn’t a great communicator, so Rizin has to bring in his sister, UFC fighter Mizuki to speak for him. She notes that Naoki spends all his time training and sometimes struggles when speaking with other people. Naoki does note he did well enough on his high school entrance interview to get admitted to high school, so he’s not completely awful at speaking. Takizawa opened his own gym in October, putting around $75k of his fighting, sponsorship, and streaming revenue to set things up. He also proudly offers to knock out Inoue for everyone. Tsuyoshi Sudario (6-1) vs. Junior Tafa (3-0, 4-4 KB, 1-0 MT, 1-0 Box) (265) Tsuyoshi “Takanofuji Sanzo” Sudario is a disgraced former sumo wrestler, but his disgrace was… less so than his brother’s. He was ejected for assaulting his junior attendant twice, while his brother was dismissed for hazing, participating while having the flu, and SMOKING WEED. Sudario is 6-1 in MMA, and was last seen at Rizin 39 two months ago defeating Janos Csukas in one of the most entertaining Big Boy bouts of the year, that you should go find if you can. Junior Tafa has fought every different punch sport you can think of, and might be most recognized for a 3-4 run in Glory from 2017-2019. His older brother is UFC fighter Justin “Bad Man” Tafa, who looks like Mark Hunt At Home, was last seen beating Harry Hunsucker, and will soon be seen fighting Parker Porter. He’s expected to weigh about 20 pounds lighter than Sudario and rely on his speed and experience in the fight. Who will win, the more famous brother or the less famous brother? Hideo Tokoro (35-31-2) vs. John Dodson (22-13, 1-0 BK) (126) Hideo “Little Volk” Tokoro is still out here being forced to fight at age 45. He lost a decision to Makoto “Shinryu” Takahashi in July and they are still booking him on a show where they have enough star power without him. Let us say yet another prayer that he does not get hurt too bad and can finally retire. His last win of note was probably a decision victory over Masakazu Imanari in July 2011. “The Magician” John Dodson is making his way to Japan for the first time at age 38. From 2011 to 2020 he assembled a 10-7 record in the UFC, and was last seen getting a 40 second KO victory over Ryan Benoit in Bare Knuckle FC in August. Rizin signed him because they plan to launch their Flyweight division in 2023 and see him as an “upcoming flyweight.” John please just wrestle Tokoro and lay on him and don’t punch. “Rizin needs Hideo Tokoro.” Tokoro keeps calling his opponent Mr. Dot, until the Rizin producer explains it’s Dodson, not Dot-San. Oh, Hideo, you’re so silly! Tokoro is setting up a very special training session with his old ZST buddies, all of whom, like Tokoro, are well over 40 years old. Everyone says they will show up any time Tokoro asks. They all agree that Hideo has the aura of a star, and there goes Tokoro, crying again. They do note that Hideo did get tapped over 30 times during the training session, and joke that his body language makes it seem like Tokoro is going to lose, but Imanari says he’s going to win perfectly. Hideo’s head coach notes that Tokoro said he had 3 fights left one fight ago, but then said that one didn’t count, so he’s still got three more bouts. Hideo Tokoro has fought 10 times on New Year’s Eve, more than anyone else in history, and this might be his last appearance for an end of year bash. Dodson doesn’t really get featured in this portion of Rizin Confessions, though he is noted to be extremely athletic with strong wrestling and incredible knockout power. But, really, this is all about honoring Hideo Tokoro, as well he deserves. Ren Hiramoto (11-4 KB, 2-2 MMA) vs. X (Boxing) Ren Hiramoto is a childhood friend of Tenshin Nasukawa and his Rizin profile claims that he had a 95-5 record “in his amateur days.” After switching to MMA, he lost his first two fights, but still got to be in the main event of Rizin 36 in July and got a split decision win over shootboxer Hiroaki Suzuki. He most recently got another MMA win in the main event of Rizin Landmark 4 less than two months ago. The switch to MMA was strange because he had won his last 6 kickboxing matches before making the change, his last being at the NYE 2019 Bellator Japan show. Hiramoto did some of his MMA training at Roufusport under the tutelage of Sergio Pettis, including seconding Pettis in his title fight with Kyoji Horiguchi. He does have 248K Instagram followers and is a 24-year-old tattooed hot boy, so that seems to be a reason he keeps getting a spot as a key face of Rizin. His Twitter profile (@REN_MMA) has the profile set to “I want it, I got it.” On New Year’s Eve, he has been recruited at the last minute to face MYSTERY OPPONENT under boxing rules. Mystery Opponent is not to be confused with Vacant. The site does not specify but this will likely be a three-round fight. Yuki Motoya (32-10) vs. Rogério Bontorin (17-4) (134) Yuki Motoya has been around long enough at 33 to have amassed a 9-5 record in Rizin. Last time out 8 weeks ago, he won a decision over Kazuma Kuramoto to get his Rizin winning streak to 4 in a row. He has MMA wins over Masakazu Imanari, Yoshiro Maeda, Tatsumitsu Wada, and Justin Scoggins. Rizin’s site commentary openly describes him as a gatekeeper of the bantamweight division. Rogério Bontorin makes his return to Japan after a win on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2018 lead to him going 3-3 in the UFC and getting cut after botching his weight cut in June and getting his fight with Manel Kape cancelled. Bontorin’s last fight in Japan was his first career loss, to Michinori Tanaka in 2017. Johnny Case (27-9-1, 4-0 Box) vs. Nobumitsu Tyson (14-6) (157) “Hollywood” Johnny Case is 0-3 in MMA since NYE 2019, while being 4-0 in boxing at the same time. Case lost a decision to Orange Man Koji Takeda at Rizin 37 in July but rebounded with a 31 second KO in boxing just 7 weeks ago. He’s been fighting since 2007 and had most of the early fights in his career in “Brutaal Genesis MMA” in Minnesota, including a 2012 win over the legendary Jay Ellis (11-45 at the time). He was also 4-2 in the UFC from 2014-2017. Johnny Case was originally scheduled to fight 12-2 Luiz Gustavo, but Gustavo tore his biceps and was replaced by “Nobumitsu Tyson.” Nobumitsu “Tyson” Osawa is a 36-year-old Shooto fighter that handed Sho Patrick Usami his first loss at POUND STORM back in April. He lost to Tofiq Musayev in his only previous Rizin appearance. The fight team he is affiliated with is “Noda Bodybuilding Club.” The Rizin commentary claims that Tyson uses the Dynamite Hook but that it will be difficult for him to land it against Case, who has a high Fight IQ. Yoshiki Nakahara (17-5) vs. Chihiro Suzuki (9-3) (146) Yoshiki Nakahara is 2-0 in Rizin in 2022 as well as 3-1 in ONE Championship. He beat late replacement Akira Haraguchi via soccer kick at Rizin 39 two months ago. He is a student of Hayato “Mach” Sakurai. 23-year-old prodigy Chihiro Suzuki is taking his 5th fight of 2022, in an attempt to go a perfect 5-0. He beat Masakazu Imanari via decision at Rizin Landmark 4 8 weeks ago, after only taking 6 weeks from his previous win over Kyohei Hagiwara at Rizin 38. In addition to being 9-3 in MMA, he is 6-1 in kickboxing, 4-0 in muay thai, and 1-0 in shootboxing, for a combined record of 19-4. He started fighting in 2017 a few months before his 18th birthday. Per Rizin’s profile, he has a Peruvian father and a Japanese mother. His 6-1 kickboxing record includes winning the KNOCK OUT BLACK (kickboxing rules) super lightweight championship. He has declared that he aiming to succeed at the “two-sword style of Kick and MMA.” “Blackpanther” Beynoah (1-2, 11-4 KB, 0-1 SB) vs. Sho Patrick Usami (5-1) (157) “Black Panther” Noah Bey, for some reason stylized insanely by Rizin, is a kickboxer who is tricked into doing MMA from time to time. He has not tasted victory in 3 fights since last NYE, with an MMA loss to Koji Takeda followed by kickboxing losses to super popular Kaito Ono and then to Hiromi Wajima. “Savage” Sho Patrick Usami is a 22-year-old prospect looking to continue his climb after winning his Rizin debut in October. He has a Japanese father and a Canadian mother. He lost in the semi-finals of the Tokyo Olympic Trials for boxing and moved to MMA. His loss was due to difficulty defending takedowns, so Rizin looks to have put him into a striking showcase match. “This is a DEAD or ALIVE survival situation.” Beynoah notes the similarities between him and his opponent. Both have striking backgrounds, both look like foreigners but speak perfect Japanese, and both are extremely handsome men. Beynoah plans on fighting on New Year’s Eve, and then appear at a stand-up comedy show first thing in the new year. “He’s half-assing everything.” Usami is frustrated that Beynoah doesn’t seem to take the sport seriously, and thinks he should just go be a comedian full time. YUSHI (2-1) vs. Tatsuya Nakazawa (1-0) (137, 3-minute rounds) “Muscle Prince” YUSHI lost his debut on New Year’s Eve to “Little King” Kota but was able to get a win over One Piece-themed fighter Tony Tony Zenki back in May. He then defeated Haruki in July. He is an extremely hot boy. He participated in the Japan Pro Bodybuilding event in 2019. He has 129K followers on Instagram and he’s mostly nude on there. His interests are “Fashion,Lifestyle,Fitness,hair.” They are still putting him in 3-minute round fights, which I assume is the equivalent of “rookie rules.” Per his Rizin profile, “His admired fighters are Conor McGregor and Cody Garbrandt, and his specialty is jumping knee kicks, and he aims to be a flashy and talented fighter.” Tatsuya Nakazawa is officially 1-0 in pro MMA, with a single fight in April 2015 he won by decision. He also has a record of 1-3-1 in amateur MMA and a loss in Ganryujima back in 2018. He is clearly here to be fed to the hunk of man meat that they are continuing to build. He is 43 years old has an extremely colorful profile on Rizin’s site: “A real brawler in the V-Cinema world. Since he was a child, he spent days in fights, and after graduating from junior high school, he served as the head of a motorcycle gang in his hometown of Hachioji. He didn't have a background in martial arts, but when underground martial arts started to become popular, he started martial arts in search of further strength, and later won Kai Asakura in his first match, THE OUTSIDER, in August 2009. Although he played against a certain "real Baki" Shibuya Rikko, he lost by TKO. After that, after playing an active part in the same tournament, he participated in the DEEP Hachioji Superman Festival held locally. In 2015 and 2016, he won the superhuman club certified over35age MMA championship and won the championship for the second consecutive year. At the Ganryujima All Japan Martial Arts Championships in MAIHAMA in September 2018, he faced Shota Hara in actual karate in the first round, and was eliminated from the tournament after losing by TKO due to a ground punch. Currently, he is active in a wide range of fields, as the representative of underground martial arts Masu Arao and Utage, and in the acting industry, he has played the leading role in seven films so far, and has appeared regularly in the popular series "Nippon Touitsu". In this tournament, which was his first participation in the competition, he vows to win against YUSHI with the fighting spirit and guts that he has cultivated.” Let’s band together to cheer for the motorcycle gang direct-to-video action man!
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Dec 31, 2022 05:13
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTb9xeSB4Cs There's a preshow here starting literally now and no one seems to know if it does or does not have the first two fights on it.
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Dec 31, 2022 05:14
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Do I want to stay up until 5am or nah lol
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Dec 31, 2022 05:15
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LETS FUCKIN GOOOOOOOOOOO https://twitter.com/marcraimondi/status/1609026947987931139
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Dec 31, 2022 05:19
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COPE 27 posted:Do I want to stay up until 5am or nah lol  In your heart, you know the answer.
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Dec 31, 2022 05:21
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Sing me to the ring, lads. Sing me to the freakin ring
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Dec 31, 2022 06:30
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Love to get my face punched by a perfectly coiffed hunk
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Dec 31, 2022 06:43
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holky fuk
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Dec 31, 2022 07:03
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God drat!
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Dec 31, 2022 07:04
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how much CTE can you accrue on a 1-3 record
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Dec 31, 2022 07:10
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LobsterMobster posted:Love to get my face punched by a perfectly coiffed hunk
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Dec 31, 2022 07:11
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Never fight blonde Japanese fighters, they will gently caress you up.
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Dec 31, 2022 07:20
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NYE memories: a fighter promoting their newfound free agency by cutting a catfish-themed children's rap song live
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Dec 31, 2022 07:30
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a mighty cronch
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Dec 31, 2022 07:59
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ouch
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Dec 31, 2022 07:59
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Please don't make Hideo Tokoro fight real people anymore.
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Dec 31, 2022 09:06
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https://twitter.com/antontabuena/status/1609097511112945664?s=20
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Dec 31, 2022 09:07
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This fight is bad when Dokdo is on the line
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Dec 31, 2022 10:17
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For absolutely no reason Rizin is now playing the theme to WCW Thunder on a loop https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hi5vs20GP5M
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Dec 31, 2022 11:09
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Just woke up and I'm ready for the main card! Anything cool happen while I was asleep?
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Dec 31, 2022 11:22
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duckdealer posted:Just woke up and I'm ready for the main card! Do you like watching people get violently concussed?
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Dec 31, 2022 11:30
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CarlCX posted:Do you like watching people get violently concussed? Well I occasionally watch MMA so apparently yes!
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Dec 31, 2022 11:56
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duckdealer posted:Well I occasionally watch MMA so apparently yes! Then you can't really go wrong, goddamn near everything ended quickly and violently.
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Dec 31, 2022 12:13
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Ha lush
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Dec 31, 2022 13:58
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Congratulations to anyone who made it through the entirety of the humiliation of JMMA.
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Dec 31, 2022 14:32
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| # ? May 6, 2024 22:58 |
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RIP Rizin, he never scored
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Dec 31, 2022 14:39
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