The combat sports year has not ended yet folks. It officially ends after Rizin 26, Rizin’s final show of the year tonight. Live from the Saitama Super Arena, Rizin 26 boasts an astronomical 15 fights. There will be 13 MMA bouts and 2 kickboxing bouts. One MMA bout we don’t know the other opponent. Nonetheless, all the fights look incredible and you can follow allow on MMASucka for the results. Let’s look at some of the fights.
Rizin 26 Results
Kai Asakura (c) vs. Kyoji Horiguchi
A rematch that has been over a year in the making. When Kai Asakura (16-2) knocked out Kyoji Horiguchi (28-3) in a non-title match last year, it shocked the world. A rematch was supposed to happen at last year’s New Year’s Eve show but Horiguchi suffered an ACL injury. A year later, the rematch finally happens. Will Asakura be able to repeat his success and retain the bantamweight title against Horiguchi? Will Horiguchi come in with his trademark aggressiveness and fast-paced style fans know him for? We will finally get to the answer to these questions and more tonight! See our initial coverage of the announcement of the match here.
Ayaka Hamasaki vs. Miyuu Yamamoto
With Seo Hee Ham vacating the super atomweight title, we now have two of the top fighters in that division getting a shot to be crowned champion. Ayaka Hamasaki (20-3) lost the belt last year to Ham in a very close decision loss. She now has the opportunity to become a two-time champion. Miyuu Yamamoto (6-4) had an unsuccessful start to her pro MMA career. After more in-ring experience, she got to find her grove and has been a dominant fixture in the division. At 46-years-old, she has been able to decisively beat opponents half her age. Will Hamasaki regain the belt or will Yamamoto hit her career apex by becoming the champion?
Who doesn’t love to see Tenshin Nasukawa (37-0, 28 KO) fight? Without a doubt the top kickboxer in Japan, he has gone through every opponent that Rizin has put in front of him in devastating highlight reel fashion. He will be taking on Thailand’s Kumandoi Phetjaroenvit (122-28-2, 45 KO). Kumandoi is a former Omnoi and Super Bantamweight WBC Champion and a top 10 P4P Muay Thai fighter. Kumandoi does have an unofficial win over Rodtang, the only kickboxer to have given any sort of trouble to Nasukawa. Will Nasukawa put away another opponent in glorious fashion or can Kumandoi be the first guy to beat Tenshin Nasukawa?
Kyohei Hagiwara vs Ren Hiramoto
The trash talk between these two is almost unheard of in JMMA. Ren Hiratmoto (pro debut) is a former K1 kickboxer who is making the full time switch to MMA. He has been taking the training seriously as evidenced by his photos on social media training in grappling and other aspects of MMA. Kyohei Hagiwara (4-3) has been the most unique personality to come into Rizin this year. Originally an underground fighter, the tattooed Osaka native showed his brutality at RIZIN 25 knocking out Yojiro Uchimura in 22 seconds. As soon as Uchimura fell to the ground, Hagiwara almost landed a legal face stomp had it not been for referee intervention. Here is some of the back and forth between the two from the weigh-ins:
Hagiwara: “I will not finish this fight quickly. I will use all the time I can to beat him up, slice him up and punish him as long as I can.”
Hiramoto: Hagiwara’s kicks are amateur and it won’t land on me. He should be ashamed of himself. He won’t be able take a single leg kick from me.”
One of these fighters is a future star of the featherweight division. Can Hiramoto make his MMA debut a successful one or will Hagiwara continue on his winning streak?
You can check out RIZIN 2 on LiveNow with English commentary here.
To see our previous coverage of Rizin 26 news, check out our articles here and here.
Follow along with MMASucka as we provide you with the results throughout Rizin 26.
Start time on LIVENow (ESPN+ – 12 a.m. ET/9 p.m. PT)
Kyoji Horiguchi def. Kai Asakura via TKO (Punches) at 2:48 of Round 1 – bantamweight championship
Tenshin Nasukawa def. Kumandoi Petcharoenvit (Kickboxing) via unanimous decision
Mikuru Asakura def. Satoshi “Dominator” Yamasu via TKO (head kick and punch) at 4:20 in Round 1
Takanori Gomi def. Kouzi (Special Standing Bout Rules) via majority decision (30-29, 29-28, 29-29)
Ayaka Hamasaki def. Miyuu Yamamoto via submission (teepee choke) at 1:42 in Round 1 for the vacant super atomweight championship
Naoki Inoue def. Yuki Motoya via submission (rear-naked choke) at 3:00 in Round 1
Kleber Koike def. Kyle Aguon via submission (D’arce choke) at 4:22 in Round 1
Kyohei Hagiwara def. Ren Hiramoto via TKO (punches) at 2:22 in Round 2
Hideo Tokoro def. Shinobu Ota via submission (armbar) at 2:45 in Round 2
Nadaka Yoshinari def. Petmalai Phetjaroenvit (Kickboxing) via TKO (3 knockdowns) at 2:20 in Round 1
Ulka Sasaki def. Kenta Takizawa via unanimous decision
Kanna Asakura def. Ai Shimizu via unanimous decision
Shibatar def. Hiroya (Mixed Rules Bout) via submission (armbar) at 2:38 in Round 2
Kazuma Kuramoto def. Taiyo Nakahara via TKO (soccer kick) at 2:37 in Round 1
Tsuyoshi Sudario def. Minowaman via TKO (leg injury) at 3:19 in Round 1
Sakura def. Eru Takebayashi via submission (armbar) at 1:37 in Round 1 (fight is officially ruled a NC due to Sakura missing weight)
