Rizin didn’t take any breaks from putting on another show one week after Landmark 5. Rizin 42 from Ariake Arena saw popular fighter Kai Asakura make his long-awaited return to the promotion. Also meeting in the co-main event were Bellator’s Juan Archuleta and Naoki Inoue.
Main Event
Kai Asakura (20-4) made his return at Rizin 42 after a year-plus-long layoff with a late finish over former Deep bantamweight champion Yuki Motoya (33-11). While the first two rounds saw not a lot of action, Asakura cornered Motoya and delivered a nasty knee to his body. Motoya immediately went down and covered up and the fight was stopped.
Co-Main Event
Former Bellator bantamweight champion Juan Archuleta (28-4) had an incredible back-and-forth with Naoki Inoue (16-4). Both fighters showed fantastic striking and defense against each other as well as grappling and scrambling. Both had tight rear-naked chokes on each other at different points and both managed to escape from each other’s grips.
With Asakura and Archuleta both winning they will face each other in July for the vacant bantamweight title.
Other Results
John Dodson (24-13) made his return to the promotion to take on Tatsuki Saomoto (18-3) and won by unanimous decision. Both fighters came into the fight looking dominant in all their previous fights. While Dodson completely dominated the mostly striking fight, Saomoto showed extreme resolve in not getting rocked. In his post-fight interview, Dodson called out former champion Kyoji Horiguchi.
Rizin lightweight champion Roberto “Satoshi” Souza (15-2) defeated the always entertaining Spike Carlyle (14-5) in a non-title fight. The three rounds saw most of the dictated by Souza’s exquisite and high-level grappling. Souza attempted multiple submissions that 9/10 fighters would be successfully submitted. Carlyle though kept pushing through but had nothing to counter Souza and his grappling. In his post-fight interview, Carlyle disputed the loss pointing to the fight stats that he claimed ruled in his favor. “Men lie, women lie, but numbers don’t lie,” he said.
In his MMA debut, former Rise Kickboxer Ya-Man (1-0) made an impressive MMA debut by defeating Kota Miura (2-1). Miura is the son of Japanese soccer star King Kazu. Miura kept trying for takedowns but Ya-Man defended almost all of them. Miura tried for a takedown after getting hit to the body, Ya-Man defended and kneed Miura in the face. Miura covered up and Ya-Man gets his first win in MMA.
RIZIN 42 Results
Main Card
Kai Asakura def. Yuki Motoya via TKO (knee to the body) in 2:25 of Round 3
Juan Archuleta def. Naoki Inoue via Unanimous Decision
Roberto “Satoshi” Souza def. Spike Carlyle via Unanimous Decision
Rukiya Anpo vs Buakaw ends in a draw [Kickboxing Match]
Ya-Man def. Kota Miura via TKO (knee and punches) in 3:13 of Round 1
John Dodson def. Tatsuki Saomoto via Unanimous Decision
Kazumasa Majima def. Takahiro Ashida via submission (Von Flue choke) in 4:43 of Round 1
Ulka Sasaki def. Boyd Allen via Unanimous Decision
Viktor Kolesnik def. Atsushi Kishimoto via TKO (low kick) in 2:57 of Round 2
Erson Yamamoto def. Yuki Ito via Unanimous Decision
Takeji Yokoyama def. Takuya Yamamoto via submission (armbar) at 1:24 of Round 1
Ramazan Temirov def. Yuta “Cat” Hamamoto via TKO (punches) at 4:06 of Round 1
Sota “Cerberus Kimura def. Yasuhiro Kido via Unanimous Decision [Kickboxing Match]
