RIZIN’s final show of the year, RIZIN 26, has added four more fights to it’s New Year’s Eve card. The Saitama Super Arena show as of this writing has a total of 11 MMA fights and one kickboxing match. RIZIN held a press conference on Thursday to announce the new fights. Check out our previous coverage of the first round of announced fights here and here.
Mikuru Asakura vs. Satoshi “Dominator” Yamasu
The most popular fighter in RIZIN makes a quick turn around to rebound from his championship opportunity loss at RIZIN 25. Mikuru Asakura (13-2, 1 NC) has been a RIZIN regular who has skyrocketed to popularity due to his Youtube channel which currently has 1.62 million subscribers. He went undefeated in the promotion until RIZIN 25 where he lost the inaugural RIZIN featherweight title match against Yutaka Saito.
“I’m not sure why I’m not getting the DEEP champion but I look to show the difference in skills and finish him early,” he said. “My opponent says he’s a full-time company man but I can assure you I’m busier than him.”
Satoshi “Dominator” Yamasu (11-5) is the former DEEP featherweight champion. He was recently on an 8-fight win streak until losing the title to Juntaro Ushiku at DEEP 97 Impact in September. He has wins over tough opponents including two over RIZIN fighter Takahiro Ashida and Daiki Hata. Yamasu joked about being picked to fight Asakura in his return match.
“I think I was brought here because it is poster boy Asakura’s comeback fight and RIZIN brass picked a full time working man who fights on the side,” he said. “Right now I am known as Asakura’s opponent but I look to put on a great performance and have people remember me as the ‘Dominator’.”
Nadaka Yoshinari vs. Phetmalai Phetjaroenvit
The lone kickboxing match (and only second kickboxing match in RIZIN history with elbows allowed) will see the return of the 19-year-old kickboxing sensation Nadaka Yoshinari aka Nadaka Eiwasports Gym (33-5-1, 18 KOs). Yoshinari is a familiar fighter to kickboxing fans as being one of the few non-Thai fighters in history to have held the Lumpinee title in any weight class. He made his RIZIN debut at RIZIN 22 where he brutally knocked out his opponent with an elbow.
“My opponent is a Thai Champion and is a good opponent. I look to show my skills against such a champ and will fight to finish from the beginning of the fight,” he said.
Phetmalai Phetjaroenvit is a 19-year-old Muay Thai fighter from Thailand. He holds three titles in 2 weight divisions and has over 70 professional fights under his belt.
“Nadaka is a great and famous fighter in Thailand. I will use this opportunity to beat him and make a name for myself,” the Muay Thai fighter said.
Kyle Aguon vs. Kleber Koike Erbst
Kyle Aguon (13-9) will be looking to rebound from his RIZIN 21 loss with this fight. The Spike 22 fighter from Guam has fought in Pancrase and the now-defunct PXC. He has wins over Russell Doane, Isao Kobayashi, and Rolando Dy. He also married Miyuu Yamamoto earlier this year. Aguon has never been finished in his pro career.
“I hope to close out 2020 with [Miyuu and I] winning. Kleber is a fantastic fighter and I am honored to be facing such an opponent and defeating him.”
Kleber Koike Erbst (25-5-1) is a Brazilian who lives in Japan and trains with the de Souza brothers at Bonsai Jiu-Jitsu. He is a former KSW featherweight champion and has 21 finishes by submission. This will be his RIZIN debut.
“I’m very happy to finally be able to fight on this stage. Everybody, please look forward to my performance,” he said.
Taiyo Nakahara vs. Kazuma Kuramoto
Kazuma Kuramoto (7-1) a fighter from Shooto who has been competing for about three years. He is a 4-time All-Japan Greco-Roman wrestling champion who has become well-known for taking his opponents to Suplex City in his fights.
“I will try to utilize my German suplex during the fight so that people get to know me,” he said.
Taiyo Nakahara (15-8) is a long-time fighter who is making his return after a three and half year layoff. He trains out of Wajutsu Keishukai GODS and has wins over fighters such as Shintaro Ishiwatari and Je Hoon Moon.
“I come from Tiger Mask Sayama dojo. I came here to show what I have learned from Master Sayama,” he said. “My opponent will be looking for a German suplex but my master has been teaching me the tiger suplex so I look forward to showing everybody my throws.”
Both are making their RIZIN debuts.
RIZIN 26 will be available internationally through the RIZIN LIVE PPV streaming platform.
To see the full press conference with the fight announcements, check out the video below. Note it is only in Japanese.
Announced card:
Kai Asakura (c) vs. Kyoji Horiguchi for the RIZIN bantamweight championship
Miyuu Yamamoto vs. Ayaka Hamasaki for the vacant RIZIN super atomweight championship
Ikuhisa Minowa vs. Tsuyoshi Sudario
Ulka Sasaki vs. Kenta Takizawa
Kanna Asakura vs. Ai Shimizu
Hideo Tokoro vs. Shinobu Ota
Kyohei Hagiwara vs. Ren Hiramoto
Mikuru Asakura vs. Satoshi “Dominator” Yamasu
Nadaka Yoshinari vs. Phetmalai Phetjaroenvit (Kickboxing)
Kyle Aguon vs. Kleber Koike Erbst
Taiyo Nakahara vs. Kazuma Kuramoto
