Rizin Announces Major Title Fight for Rizin Landmark 15

Rizin has announced a major title match for its upcoming show in Hiroshima. At a press conference on Tuesday, Rizin announced that at Rizin Landmark 15 in Hiroshima, we will see bantamweight champion Danny Sabatello (16-4-1) taking on Deep bantamweight champion Jinnosuke Kashimura (12-5). This will be Sabatello's second defense.

Danny Sabatello vs Jinnosuke Kashimura

Sabatello made a name for himself in Bellator and PFL. He made his debut in Rizin last year with a KO win over Shinobu Ota. Sabatello also fought and won on Dana White's Contender Series but was not awarded a UFC contract. Sabatello is known for being a fighter who relies heavily on his wrestling. 

Kashimura is the current Deep interim bantamweight champion. He won the belt after his opponent broke his ankle 16 seconds into the match. He also has fought in Road to UFC and Pancrase.

"Kashimura is a dead man July 18 in Hiroshima," Sabatello said. "I want Jinnosuke to know if I do break my foot, I'll be snapping my foot off my leg and bashing my f*cking foot over his face... One way or another, his face gets bashed July 18. I leave with my belt. Everyone is expecting a finish. That's exactly what I'm going to do to Kashimura."

"I come from a jiu-jitsu background and have been doing MMA as a grappler," Kashimura said. "My opponent is a fighter with a wrestling background, so I think he's the type of fighter to make fights boring. I think I'll be able to take advantage of that. I'm the only Japanese fighter who can take him down."

During the press conference, Sabatello verbally sparred with his opponent via video call, cursing at Kashimura. Kashimura responded by giving Sabatello the finger.

Other fights announced

Other fights announced during the press conference included Hiroya vs Erson Yamamoto, Genji Umeno vs Shoji, and Shinji Sasaki vs Yota "Rice" Hayashi.

You can see the full press conference here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCgB2xhC3ZU&t=253s&pp=ygUPcml6aW4gaGlyb3NoaW1h

Rizin Landmark 15 in Hiroshima will be available on Rizin's streaming service Rizin.tv

Announced Card

Danny Sabatello (c) vs Jinnosuke Kashimura for the Rizin Bantamweight Championship
Genji Umeno vs Shoji
Shinobu Ota vs Yrysbek Tilenov
Hiroya vs Erson Yamamoto
Shinji Sasaki vs Yota "Rice" Hayashi
Johnny Case vs Tenya
Tatsuki Shinotsuka vs Jae Hoon Lee
Kyohei Hagiwara vs Karshyga Dautbek
Si Woo Park vs Moeri Suda
Saori Oshima vs Yi Ji Lee
Kojiro Shiba vs Haruto (kickboxing)
Shivaev vs Benjamin
Hime vs Ayane Hirata
Shuichi Kanda vs Shota Nagano
Jin Tanaka vs Kentaro Tomita