Rizin returns with the third Landmark event as the promotion’s number one featherweight, Kleber Koike Erbst, takes on Kyohei Hagiwara. The six-bout fight card takes place on May 5 in an undisclosed location.
Rizin Landmark 3 Main Event: Kleber Koike Erbtst vs. Kyohei Hagiwara
The Bonsai Jiu-Jitsu gym member Erbst has a 29 – 5 – 1 professional MMA record and is currently riding a five-fight winning streak. His four consecutive wins were secured by the submissions. Despite this success, the former KSW featherweight champion has not seen the Rizin title picture yet.
Hagiwara sports a 6 – 5 MMA record and is looking to bounce back after a submission loss to Satoshi Yamasu at Rizin 34. However, he has won five of his eight bouts inside the Rizin ring heading into this catchweight affair with a 68-kg weight limit.
Rest of the Card
In the co-main event, two experienced bantamweights will test themselves, as Kazuma Kuramoto, who has a 9 – 2 MMA record, will take on Mamoru Uoi who sports a 23 – 11 – 5 record.
Kuramoto was eliminated from the Bantamweight Grand Prix by Erbst’s teammate Alan Yamaniha but bounced back at Rizin Trigger 2 by defeating Kenji Kato. Uoi has lost five of his last six fights. His sole recent win took place at RIZIN Trigger 1 when he beat Hiroki Yamashita.
Tetsuya Seki, with a 14 – 8 – 1 MMA record, will square off against Akira Haraguchi, who has a 6 – 2 balance.
Japanese grappling and MMA legends will make their return to the Rizin ring, as Hideo Tokoro teams up with Masanori Kanehara to take on the team of Daisuke Nakamura and Olympic silver medalist wrestler Shinobu Ota in a tag-team grappling match. It is a standard grappling match that can be won by submission. However, if one of the participants can reach his tag partner’s hand, they can switch with one coming inside the ring and the other taking his place outside the ropes near the corner.
For grappling fans, such matches are nothing out of the ordinary, as both the Japanese promotion ZST and the US-based Submission Underground have featured them.
Rizin Landmark 3 Results
Full Card (iPPV, 06:00 AM ET/03:00 AM PT)
Kleber Koike Erbst def. Kyohei Hagiwara via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke), Round 1
Kazuma Kuramoto def. Mamoru Uoi via Unanimous Decision
Grappling Tag-Team Match– Hideo Tokoro & Masanori Kanehara vs. Daisuke Nakamura vs. Shinobu Ota ended with a time-limit draw
Tetsuya Seki def. Akira Haraguchi via Unanimous Decision
Yushi def. Zenki via KO (right hook), Round 2
