Last night it was announced that ZST Flyweight Champion, Seiichiro Ito, would no longer be fighting Kai Asakura next weekend. Ito suffered a nasal fracture and has been replaced by a man he knows quite well in the form of Kizaemon Saiga.
伊藤盛一郎選手が、練習中に鼻骨骨折と眼下邸骨折という怪我を負ってしまい、出場することが出来なくなりました。伊藤選手の試合を楽しみにしてくれていたファンの皆さんには大変申し訳ありません。伊藤選手には怪我をしっかり治して、再びRIZINへチャレンジしてもらいたいです。#rizinff #rizin2017 pic.twitter.com/BK8j4GKgcf
— NOBUYUKI SAKAKIBARA (@nobu_sakakibara) December 21, 2017
Kizaemon Saiga replaces an injured Seiichiro Ito against Kai Asakura
Saiga (3-3) enters the fight with Asakura having lost two-straight fights. In his last MMA fight, he was defeated by the aforementioned Seiichiro Ito in April. In July he faced striking phenom Tenshin Nasukawa in an MMA/Kickboxing mixed rules contest. In the opening round – a kickboxing round – Saiga was knocked out cold by Tenshin.
A 1-4 record overall under the RIZIN banner, 1-3 in MMA fights, Saiga’s only win in the promotion is a 2016 TKO win over South Africa’s Dillin West.
Opposite him will be former RINGS tournament winner and The Outsider champion; Kai Asakura (8-1). After starting his career a perfect 8-0 with 8 finishes, Asakura was most recently finished by RIZIN bantamweight grand-prix alternate; Je Hoon Moon at ROAD FC 39 in June.
The December 29 show will feature the men’s bantamweight tournament quarter-finals, King Reina, Jiri Prochazka, and Satoru Kitaoka – among others.
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