Erson Yamamoto vs. Tim Eschtruth set for RIZIN 16
Topping off the Hamasaki/Frey II and Kanna Asakura, Miyuu Yamamoto, and Roque Martinez announcements, a sixth bout has been added to next month’s RIZIN 16 fight card.
Son of Miyuu Yamamoto, the young and talented Erson Yamamoto is slated to return against Tim Eschtruth next month.
Erson Yamamoto vs. Tim Eschtruth
Fighting out of Spike 22 in Guam, 22-year-old Erson Yamamoto (2-4) has had no easy road thus far in his MMA career. Born into one of the most famous families in combat sports, he is the son of a fellow fighter and an absolutely fantastic wrestler in Miyuu Yamamoto. He is the nephew to another killer wrestler in Seiko Yamamoto, as well as the legendary fighter Norifumi “KID” Yamamoto. And he is the grandson of Ikuei Yamamoto, a former Olympic wrestler himself.
All of this made Erson Yamamoto a big target almost immediately in MMA, and the expectations were undeniably high. Since entering the sport in 2015, he has faced and lost to some high-caliber competition. “Badman” began his run with a first-round submission loss to Kron Gracie before rebounding with a victory against Kizaemon Saiga. Since then, he is just 1-3, defeating Jesse Rogge in King of the Cage, and losing to Kazuyuki Miyata, Manel Kape, and Hideo Tokoro.
Tim Eschtruth (4-1) heads to RIZIN fighting out of Michigan, USA, and on the heels of an impressive win over Mario Aguilar last year in Warriors Xtreme Cagefighting. Before that he suffered his first career loss as he was submitted by Jesse Bazzi.
Prior to the mixed success in his most recent two, Eschtruth began his MMA run with three-straight wins and an unbeaten amateur run. He has a knack for the submission and has finished his opponent by that method in three of his four wins. This includes two armbars and one rear naked choke.
RIZIN 16 is slated to go down on June 2, live from the World Memorial Hall in Kobe, Japan. Here is the current card.
Ayaka Hamasaki vs. Jinh Yu Frey II
Kanna Asakura vs. Miyuu Yamamoto
Tenshin Nasukawa vs. TBD
Roque Martinez vs. Jake Heun
Erson Yamamoto vs. Tim Eschtruth
ITTO vs. Kan Nakamura
Kizaemon Saiga vs. Kunitaka
