✌️ Kleber is a two-time RIZIN featherweight champion
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— RIZIN.tv (@RIZINTV_)
December 31, 2024
Kleber Koike Erbst, who lost the title on the scale in June 2023, regained the Rizin Fighting Federation Featherweight Championship on Tuesday in the main event of Rizin 49 “Decade” in Saitama, Japan. Koike scored a unanimous decision victory over champion Chihiro Suzuki, regaining the belt that was stripped of her prior to her first match against Suzuki at RIZIN 43. Koike (34-7-1, 1NC, 9-2, 1NC RIZIN), whose previous win over Suzuki (13-4, 1NC, 8-2, 1NC RIZIN) was unable to make weight and all After a 15-minute battle that passed the test and was voided as a no-contest for leaving nothing behind, a question arose in the judges’ minds. Suzuki had many successes with calf kicks in the early stages that seemed to hinder Koike’s movement, but Koike pulled his guard and easily climbed into mount, establishing his superiority in the ground game. Suzuki fought back to half guard, and when Koike attempted an Achilles lock towards the end of the round, he kicked Koike in the face with a heel strike.
In the second round, Koike knocked Suzuki down, landed punches, and set up a triangle choke, putting Suzuki in a tight spot. Suzuki escaped and also escaped a mounted guillotine choke, but Suzuki was on the defense as the challenger took over the match on the mat. It continued in the final round, after Koike pulled her guard again, but Suzuki delivered a powerful elbow from above, causing a severe gash on Koike’s forehead. Despite that cut, Koike threw out his legs and landed a triangle choke, then an armbar, and then mounted Suzuki late in the fight before pummeling him with punches and elbows. In what appeared to be the last chance for Rizin title gold, all the judges favored Koike with a unanimous decision victory. He made the most of the opportunity.
And still 👊
Champion takes home a unanimous decision.
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— RIZIN.tv (@RIZINTV_)
December 31, 2024
Flyweight champion Kyoji Horiguchi (34-5, 1NC, 15-1 RIZIN) defeated challenger Nkazimuro Zulu (16-7-1, 1-1 RIZIN) by unanimous decision in a night match. He won by decision and defended his title. -Main event. Horiguchi slammed Zulu in the opening round, hitting him with knees to the head until Zulu got back to his feet. Horiguchi pinned Zulu with a front choke and continued to pursue the finish, but Zulu escaped again and both of them were rocked by punches as they exchanged legs. In the second round, Horiguchi held Zulu in half guard for four minutes, and when the fight returned to his feet, Zulu stunned Horiguchi and the champion responded with a takedown. In the final round, they exchanged powerful left hooks, and Horiguchi knocked Zulu down again, punching him in the face and pushing him to the mat, ending the heated battle. Horiguchi, who is undefeated in his last six fights, was scored by all three judges.
Souza gets a tap with 1️⃣!
👑 And yet!
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— RIZIN.tv (@RIZINTV_)
December 31, 2024
Roberto Satoshi de Souza (RIZIN 18-3, 11-2) easily defended his lightweight title in the first of three title fights on the card. De Sousa submitted former featherweight champion Vougal Karamov (20-6 Rizin, 6-3 KOs), who moved up in weight for a chance at a second Rizin belt. De Sousa landed two takedowns in the first half of the opening round, but Karamov powered out from below both times and got back to his feet. He then got de Souza a takedown, but that proved to be a mistake when de Souza countered with a triangle choke from below, forcing Karamov to submit at 4:45 of the opening round. De Souza’s victory capped off a stellar 2024 season in which he earned first-round finishes in all three of his Rizin matches.
Rizin Women’s Super Atomweight Champion Seika Izawa (15-0, 9-0, Rizin) remains undefeated, as big-time underdog Lucia Abdelgalim (2-4, 0-1) enters the match on short notice. He scored a quick submission victory over Rizin. Participated in place of injured Rena Kubota. Izawa’s Rizin title wasn’t on the line in this match, but she was as aggressive with her submission attempts as usual, holding them off until she was able to finish off Abdelgalim. After getting an early takedown, Izawa had the advantage and secured a tight triangle choke. Abdelgalim put up a brave fight but refused to give in, so Izawa switched to an armbar and back to a triangle choke. The final transition to a triangle armbar was too much for Abdelgalim, who tapped out of a combination hold at the 2:21 mark of the first round. Izawa, who criticized Kubota for withdrawing from the match and accused his compatriot of deceiving Kubota, said after winning that he wanted to compete against top international talent in 2025.
The main card opened with an overwhelming victory for Yuki Motoya (RIZIN 37 wins, 11 losses, 1 NC, RIZIN 12 wins, 7 losses, 1 NC), who handed over the promising 18-year-old prospect Kyoma Akimoto (RIZIN 7 wins, 1 loss, 2 wins, 1 loss). ) First loss by unanimous decision. Akimoto had brief success with punch combinations early in the match, but Motoya then took him down, which became a theme for the rest of the match. Motoya pinned Akimoto in a body triangle and attempted to finish off his young opponent with a rear-naked choke. Akimoto’s defense was solid, but other than a three-knee in the early part of the final round, he wasn’t able to launch much of his own attacks. Motoya knocks down Akimoto again and pins Akimoto with a triangle body, and time is ticking down. All three judges favored the veteran Motoya, who won and earned a rematch with RIZIN bantamweight champion Naoki Inoue.
In the featured featherweight match before the break, Radjabari Shaidulaev (13-0, 3-0, RIZIN) started at 2:30, Yuta Kubo (5-2, 5-2 RIZIN) He maintained his unblemished record with an overwhelming TKO victory. Second stanza. Karushga Dautbek (17-3, 3-1 RIZIN) used his superior grappling to defeat striker Ren Sugiyama (2-2, 2-2 RIZIN) in another featherweight bout. He won by unanimous decision. Rising contender Ryuya Fukuda (24-8-1, 3-0, RIZIN) took on Ryusei Ashizawa (2-2, 2-2 RIZIN) in a bantamweight bout with a punch in just 54 seconds. I won by knockout. Mikio Ueda (4 wins, 2 losses, 3 wins, 2 losses in RIZIN) withstood the early attacks from fellow heavyweight Tain Kim (5 wins, 1 loss, 0 wins, 1 loss in RIZIN), and ultimately ended the match at 2. At minute 31, a blister on his knee knocked out the Road FC champion. Round 2; Jose Torres (13-3-1, 1-0 RIZIN) took advantage of Makoto Takahashi’s (18-4-1, 1NC, 4-3 RIZIN) tactical mistake late in the match. It was a close fight, but the match deserved a split decision. 130 lbs.
Taisei Sakuraba (1-0, 1-0 RIZIN) makes his MMA debut by stopping veteran Yusuke Taniuchi (27-15, 11-8 RIZIN) with a punch just 26 seconds into their lightweight match. won. Koji Takeda (17-7, 7-7 RIZIN) overcame an early submission scare against Suguru Arai (17-11, 2-4 RIZIN) and won four minutes into the third round of the lightweight bout. He won by unanimous technical decision in 09 seconds. It ended prematurely when Takeda was hit with a knee to the groin. King Edokupolo (2-0, 1-0 RIZIN) KOs heavyweight Satoshi Kamiyama (1-4, 1-4 RIZIN) with knees and punches at the 3:22 mark of the first round, successfully defeating RIZIN He made his debut. In a bantamweight bout between kickboxers making their MMA debut, Genji Umeno (1-0, 1-0 RIZIN) defeated Taiga Kawabe (0-1, 0-1 RIZIN) by unanimous decision. At 3:02 of the first round of the RIZIN Koshien MMA amateur bantamweight tournament finals, Sao Yokouchi submitted Kenshin Saito with a rear naked choke, cutting off RIZIN49’s card.
In the RIZIN outside portion of the event, Team Asakura Mirai defeated Team Hiramoto Ren by a narrow margin of 4-3 in a seven-game series. The tournament ended with Rukiya Anbo winning a lopsided unanimous decision over Sheena Karimian in a six-round heavyweight boxing match. Karimian landed few punches throughout the fight, except for two shots to the face of referee Tatsuro Nagase in the sixth round. Nagase broke into a scuffle near the end of the match, but allowed the match to continue, and in the end, Anbo won easily on the scorecards.
In other matches during the tournament, Sho Patrick Usami stopped Kazusa Hosokawa with a punch to the body at 2:59 of the second round in a welterweight kickboxing match using open-finger MMA gloves. Itsuki Shinozuka competed against Aoi Noda in a 128-pound open finger glove kickboxing match, earning a TKO victory at 2:07 of round 1 after scoring three quick knockdowns. Daichi Tomizawa (1-0, 1-0 RIZIN) makes his MMA debut by brutally knocking out Kota Miura (2-3, 2-3 RIZIN) with a knee kick at 1:53 of the first round at a catchweight. won the battle. 139 pounds. In a featherweight kickboxing match, Daisuke Asaku faced undefeated Yura Kono and won by unanimous decision. Yoma Yasui (3-0, 1-0, RIZIN) won by unanimous decision over Hiroaki Suzuki (4-6, 4-6 RIZIN) in featherweight MMA action. Hiroto Gomyo (7-4, 1-0 RIZIN) survived a three-round knockdown to win a split decision in a featherweight mixed martial arts bout against Yukiteru Akada (0-1, 0-1 RIZIN).
