Yesterday’s Rizin 41 press conference was anything but a formal affair. Kickboxers Kouzi and Ryusei Ashizawa had a war of words and fists after their fight at Rizin 41 was officially announced. While press conferences are usually announcements of fights and statements from the fighters, this one featured the rare scuffle.
Kouzi vs Ryusei Ashizawa
Kouzi and Ryusei Ashizawa are both former K-1 kickboxers who left the promotion to compete in Rizin. They are also large trash talkers. “I’ve always hated Kouzi from the K-1 days. He’s pretentious and didn’t show interest in me but at the end he’s sitting here next to me,” Ashizawa said. “His new promotion is sh*t. He’s boring and he’s finished.”
Other Announcements
Announced Card
Kouzi vs Ryusei Ashizawa (Kickboxing)
Makoto Shinryu vs Daichi Kitakata
Vugar Karamov vs Yoshinori Horie
Kiichi Kunimoto vs Keita Nakamura
Kyle Aguon vs Kyohei Hagiwara
Kintaro vs Koichi Ishizuka
Sho Patrick Usami vs Kim Kyung-Pyo
Yusaku Nakamura vs Mehman Mamedov
Shun Onishi vs Motoki (Kickboxing)
Attack on Yuuki vs Sota “Cerberus” Kimura (Kickboxing)
Asataro vs Shin Sakurai (Kickboxing)
Yuto Miwa vs Daichi Akihara (Kickboxing)
