Officially locked in at 12 fights, the RIZIN 13 bout order has been confirmed.
As expected, the main event of the evening will feature Kyoji Horiguchi taking on Tenshin Nasukawa in a kickboxing contest. The co-main event of the evening sees an atomweight rematch featuring Miyuu Yamamoto and Andy Nguyen. Preceding this will be an intermission.
All things considered, with KID being a massive mentor and influence on Horiguchi’s life and career, while, of course, being the brother of Miyuu, expect incredibly emotional tributes to him all night. Especially before these two final match-ups.
Before the intermission, Mirko Cro Cop will take on Roque Martinez following Jiri Prochazka vs. Jake Heun, Mikuru Asakura vs. Karshyga Dautbek, and Daron Cruickshank vs. Diego Brandao.
Ahead of the highly-anticipated Brandao/Cruickshank match-up will the first intermission of the night. And during this, we will see a Japan vs. South Korea tournament within TEKKEN 7. RIZIN recently threw their hat into the e-sports ring so to speak, and here we will see six of the best players from two of the best fighting game countries square-off on a big stage.
Better than watching nothing during an intermission! Bring on King!
Ahead of the first intermission, we will see a rapid fire of six bouts take place. Five of these are fantastic contests, and one of them features Bob Sapp.
The ‘headliner’, if you will, immediately prior to the intermission will see Bob Sapp return to take on debuting sumo star; Osunaarashi. Then we will get a fantastic title vs. title fight as Mitsuhisa Sunabe takes on Haruo Ochi. In my personal pick for Fight of the Night, Kai Asakura faces Topnoi TigerMuayThai, in one of the most talent-filled atomweight bouts possible Ayaka Hamasaki will face DEEP JEWELS title-holder Mina Kurobe, kickboxing superstar Taiga will make his RIZIN debut against RISE tournament winner Kento Haraguchi, and finally, Yusaku Nakamura takes on Manel Kape in an absolute barnburner to open the show!
Finally, RIZIN 13 is almost here! Live from the Saitama Super Arena, the stacked show takes place this weekend. For results, post-fight recap, and everything else RIZIN-related stay locked to MMASucka.
