Rizin’s first show of 2025 goes this weekend with Rizin 50. The promotion is going to a new market and new arena. Rizin 50 will go down from the Anabuki Arena Kagawa in Kagawa, Japan.
This is the first event the arena has had, as it was just completed last year. The show will feature a title defense, returning international fighters, lopsided matchmaking, and other eye-catching fights. There are 17 fights total on Rizin 50, but let’s look at 5 that stand out.
Rizin 50: Yoshiro Maeda vs Sanou Yokouchi
Yoshiro Maeda (39-19-3) is a former King of Pancrase featherweight champion and Deep bantamweight champion. The man’s career includes wins over current Rizin featherweight champion Kleber Koike, Masanori Kanehara, and Haruo Ochi.
He also fought in WEC in a very famous FOTY contender against Miguel Torres. An exceptional all-rounder, he retired in 2022 but is making his return to the Rizin ring.
Sanou Yokouchi will be making his pro debut. Yes, you read that right. The 18-year-old has 1-1 amateur record. He scored his first win at Rizin 49 on NYE. The win netted him a fight contract with Rizin.
He was a part of the first Rizin Koshien tournament where prospective MMA fighters in high school got to advance and get a fight in Rizin. Yokouchi has said his goal as a fighter is to get his divorced parents to see his fight and get back together again.
Rizin 50: Takeji Yokoyama vs Shuya Kimura
Takeji Yokoyama (6-1) is making his third walk down the Rizin aisle. An accomplished jiu-jitsu grappler, all but one of his wins comes by way of submission. He also represented Team Rizin at last year’s Japanese Martial Arts Expo and was the only competitor to get a submission win. He is the Fighting Nexus featherweight champion.
Shyua Kimura (4-0) is only 24 but is slowly climbing the MMA ranks. Coming out of the famed Brave Gym, all of his wins have been by KO/TKO in the first round. Not one fight has gone past two minutes. Kimura comes from a Kempo karate background.
Rizin 50: Chihiro Suzuki vs Karshyga Dautbek
Former Rizin featherweight champion Chihiro Suzuki (13-4) does not know the definition of rest. He last fought on Rizin’s NYE show, and while he lost the belt to Kleber Koike, he managed to put up a good fighting effort. Suzuki is also a kickboxing champion and is known for his devastating right cross that has put out many, including Patricio Pitbull.
Karshyga Dautbek (17-3) is a native of Kazakhstan with 14 KO/TKOs out of 17 wins. Coming out of Tiger Muay Thai, Dautbek is on a nine-fight win streak. A very technical striker, he is known for his killer body punches and left cross that has instantly knocked out many opponents.
Rizin 50: Yuki Ito vs Tony Laramie
Yuki Ito is a 27-year-old fighter who’s a little bit good at everything. Ito has mostly fought in Deep but has gone 7-1 in the Rizin promotion. He is a counter striker who likes to bait his opponents into coming forward while he throws offense on the backstep.
Tony Laramie is a 26-year-old from the Ontario area. A BTC flyweight champion, he has one win in Rizin. An exceptional striker and grappler, he is able to mix fights with all the tools to secure wins.
Rizin 50: Luiz Gustavo vs Shunta Nomura
Luiz Gustavo is making his return to Rizin, and he will be hungry for a win. A lightweight title contender, Gustavo is known for his frenzy pace and powerful striking volume. While he sometimes gets too crazy for his own good, he is not afraid to fight in a phone booth if it comes down to such a situation.
Shunta Nomura out of the Brave Gym, is the Deep lightweight champion. He is able to mix up striking and wrestling to keep his opponents always guessing what may come next. He was promised by Rizin CEO Nobuyuki Sakakibara that he would be next for Rizin lightweight champion Roberto de Souza with a big win.
Rizin 50 will be available internationally on Rizin.tv for free.
Rizin 50 Full Card
Naoki Inoue 井上直樹 (c) vs Yuki Motoya 元谷友貴 for the RIZIN Bantamweight championship
Chihiro Suzuki 鈴木千裕 vs Karshyga Dautbek
Luiz Gustavo vs Shunta Nomura 野村駿太
Takeji Yokoyama 横山武司 vs Shuya Kimura 木村柊也
Sanou Yokouchi 横内三旺 vs Yoshiro Maeda 前田吉朗
Yuki Ito 伊藤裕樹 vs Tony Laramie
King Edokpolo エドポロキング・しょうご・セカンド vs Ryo Sakai 酒井陵
Takeshi Izumi 泉武志 vs Spike Carlyle
Fullswing Uoi 魚井守 vs Koki “PLAYBOI” Akada 赤田功輝
Haruo Ochi 越智晴雄 vs N.O.V. 中務修良
Kyohei Hagiwara 萩原京平 vs Toby Misech
Machi 福田万智 vs Seo-Young Park
Shoji Otani 大谷 翔司 vs Yamato Ashikaga 足利也真登 (Kickboxing)
Ryuki Yoshioka 吉岡龍輝 vs Daiki Kirizume 切詰大貴 (Kickboxing)
Hiroki Takaoka 高岡宏気 vs Seiya Ameyama 飴山聖也 (Rizin MMA Special Rules (5min / 2R)
Ryuki 龍生 vs Toki Kagawa 香川刻 (Kickboxing)
Ryoya Inai 稲井良弥 vs Rinto Kako 加古稟虎
