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RIZIN 12 adds kickboxing bout between Shintaro Matsukura and Takahiro Okuyama

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RIZIN 12 next month has added another fight, and it comes in the form of a 70kg kickboxing showdown.

The bout was announced early Thursday.

A veteran of Kunlun Fight and K-1, Japan’s Shintaro Matsukura enters the bout as a former foe of kickboxing stars such as Hinata. He seemed to be a very hot up-and-comer in his early years of kickboxing, seemingly peaking as a teenager. But, as he got older and gained more experience, he appeared to be less impressive.

Could this be due to the jump in competition? Perhaps. But older clips of Shintaro Matsukura will show you what he’s capable of. Whether or not we see it from him at this stage? That’s a different question. Let’s see if his recent work at Tiger Muay Thai pays off!

Opposite the aforementioned Matsukura, we will see a fellow Japanese battler in the form of Takahiro Okuyama. He is a veteran of the famed Shoot Boxing promotion and a former opponent of MASAYA. Of his more recent victories, we’ve seen Okuyama stop Tayori Matsushima and outpoint Tingun Shinkoiwa.

RIZIN Fighting Federation seems to have a good relationship with Shoot Boxing, and Okuyama will fight in RIZIN whilst essentially being lent from Shoot Boxing.


RIZIN 12 is slated to go down on August 12, live from the Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium in Nagoya, Japan.

Yusuke Yachi vs. Bruno Carvalho (Reportedly Injured)
Hatsu Hioki vs. Mikuru Asakura
Roque Martinez vs. Kiyoshi Kuwabara
King Reina vs. Kaitlin Young
Kiichi Kunimoto vs. Ryuichiro Sumimura
Kanako Murata vs. Angela Magana
Yuki Motoya vs. Kazuma Sone
Takiya Shota vs. Syuta Sato
Shintaro Matsukura vs. Takahiro Okuyama
Ryuki vs. Naoya

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