One of the biggest MMA matches in Japan was announced at a press conference Saturday for Rizin’s summer show Super Rizin 3. The uber-popular Mikuru Asakura (17-4) will take on former K-1 kickboxer and social media bad boy Ren Hiramoto (3-3). The match is being billed as the “2 Villains: The Match in The Dark.” The two have jawed and traded insults to each other for many years and will finally get to settle the score on July 28 at the Saitama Super Arena.
Asakura has been on a losing skid recently. He lost to former champion Vugar Karamov last year for the inaugural featherweight championship. He then lost an open-finger glove kickboxing match to Ya-Man on the Rise show Fight Club. His last win was against former featherweight champion Juntaro Ushiku. He also runs the viral promotion Breaking Down. Breaking Down features one-round matches usually involving gangsters, criminals, and Japanese people who are ostracized. The fights receive millions of views on TikTok and YouTube.
Ren Hiramoto is a former K-1 kickboxing tournament runner-up. He transitioned to MMA in 2020 and has trained at Roufusport to alongside Sergio Pettis and other world-class fighters. Despite his 3-3 record, he remains one of Rizin’s most popular fighters with his fights getting millions of views on YouTube. His last fight saw him defeat another kickboxer turned MMA fighter Ya-Man by unanimous decision on New Year’s Eve.
At the press conference, both said they would retire if they lost to the other.
Hiramoto wrote on Twitter/X about the match: “I’m saving my first knockout victory for this match… The loser will retire… This will be Asakura’s retirement match.”
Rizin also announced they are using the stadium portion of the SSA which holds a lot more seats. The stadium can hold approximately 30,000 people.
No other fights at this time have been announced.
