Rizin New Year’s Show: Exciting Fights to Look Forward to

RIZIN Super Powerhouse, the RIZIN New Year’s show is ending the year with a banger. While there were some bumps in the road with fight cancellations and changes ahead of Rizin New Year’s , the show is going to cap off a successful year for the promotion. In addition, this will be the final show at the Saitama Super Arena before it goes under renovation.  If that weren’t enough, all of the RIZIN titles will be at stake Wednesday. Other matches will showcase prospects and future contenders. Let’s look at some of the fights that stand out on this card.

RIZIN Super Powerhouse: Seika Izawa vs Rena

Seika Izawa will defend her title against one of the last true great Super Atomweights, Rena, at Rizin New Year’s Eve show. Photo courtesy of Rizin FF.

This is THE fight to cap a GOAT of women’s super atomweight at RIZIN Super Powerhouse. Seika Izawa (17-0) is undefeated and has beaten all the top super atomweight contenders put in front of her ahead of RIZIN Super Powerhouse. She has beaten Ayaka Hamasaki twice, Kanna Asakura, Saori Oshima, and Si Woo Park. An expert grappler, she dominates all her opponents with jiu-jitsu and a strong ground game.

Rena (15-5) has been a Rizin mainstay since their second show. A Shootboxing champion and Rizin Grand Prix finalist, she is one of the hardest-hitting women in all of MMA. While early in her MMA career, she showed some grappling prowess, she has chosen to instead throw bombs and body punches to finish her opponents.

This is about as much of a contrasting stylistic fight. Grappler vs striker. The future vs a veteran. Pay attention to this extremely important fight to decide the future of women’s super atomweight.

RIZIN Super Powerhouse: Kleber Koike vs Vugar Karamov

Two former Rizin champions will face off at Rizin New Year's Eve.
Photo courtesy of Rizin FF.

Kleber Koike (34-9-1, 1 NC) is one of the most exciting submission artists in RIZIN. Sometimes, to his own detriment, Koike is always hunting for a submission in his fights. A jiu-jitsu black belt, he has an astounding 29 wins by submission and is able to lock in a sub at any time in RIZIN Super Powerhouse Festival.

Vugar Karamov (21-6) is one of the best explosive fighters in Rizin. He is an expert at the single-leg takedown and being able to grapple and put his opponents in positions that are difficult to escape from.

Expect a match that will be a grappler’s delight, with many submission attempts and scrambles.

RIZIN Super Powerhouse  Yuri Suda vs Enzo Massami Imazato

Just like last year’s Rizin New Year’s Eve show, RIZIN Super Powerhouse will feature the finals of this year’s Koshien Tournament. It is a tournament where high schoolers compete to win a Rizin fight contract and 3 million yen (about $19,220) to go towards training money.

Yuri Suda (who trains out of Scorpion Gym with his sister, Moeri, who has fought in Rizin) and Enzo Massami Iamazato (training out of Carlos Toyota BJJ Team) both come from grappling and jiu-jitsu backgrounds. They both competed against each other in the gi at IBJJF a number of years ago, with Suda winning by submission in less than a minute.

RIZIN Super Powerhouse: Roberto “Satoshi” Souza vs. Ilkholm Nazimov

In a last-minute change, Nazimov is subbing in for an injured Shunta Nomura to challenge Satoshi for the title at RIZIN Super Powerhouse.

Roberto “Satoshi” Souza (20-3) has been the most dominant champion in Rizin since Jiri Prochazka. The evolution of his MMA career will hopefully be studied. A guy who only once relied on his grappling has become one of the most feared strikers in the lightweight division.

Ilkholm Nazimov (12-3) has become a highlight reel finisher in RIZIN since debuting at their Azerbaijan show. A striker who relies on the backfoot to throw heat, he will face his toughest challenge to date in the promotion.

The show will be available on Rizin.tv with English commentary. The show airs on Tuesday, Dec. 30 at 11 p.m. ET/8 p.m. PT.

RIZIN Super Powerhouse: Full Card

Razhabali Shaydullaev (c) vs. Mikuru Asakura For the Rizin Featherweight Championship.

Roberto de Souza (c) vs. Ilkholm Nazimov For the Rizin Lightweight Championship.

Seika Izawa (c) vs. RENA For the Rizin Super Atomweight Championship.

Naoki Inoue (c) vs. Danny Sabatello For the Rizin Bantamweight Championship.

Hiromasa Ougikubo vs. Yuki Motoya (2025 Rizin Flyweight Grand Prix Final) For the vacant Rizin Flyweight Championship.

Ryuya Fukuda vs. Tatsuya Ando

Joji Goto vs. Jose Torres

Kleber Koike vs Vugar Karamov

Makoto Shinryu vs Hiroya

Karshyga Dautbek vs Yuta Kubo

Kyoma Akimoto vs Suguru Nii

Tatsuki Shinotsuka vs Daichi Tomizawa

Catfish vs Jolly

Bey Noah vs Tatsuya “Yanbo” Saika

Yuri Suda vs Enzo Massami Iamazato (2025 Rizin Koshien Final)

Andrew Benjamin
Andrew Benjaminhttps://twitter.com/WeareRizinPod
Andrew has been a long time MMA and pro wrestling fan. When he isn't writing about MMA, he is usually training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, playing video games, or going bar hopping (he only drinks on days that end in "y"). He also co-hosts the RIZIN focused podcast "We are RIZIN" which you can listen to on Soundcloud & Stitcher.

Related articles

Comments

UFC Abu Dhabi Preview & Keys to Victory

UFC Abu Dhabi goes down this weekend with a huge middleweight fight headlining the promotion's return to the Etihad Arena. Former interim and undisputed...

Charalampos Grigoriou is Cyprus’ UFC Trailblazer

In a recent episode of the Couch Warrior Podcast, host Mike welcomed Charalampos Grigoriou, who recently won a contract during season 7 of Dana White's Contender Series after knocking out Cameron Smotherman one minute into the fight. The conversation delved into Grigoriou's martial arts journey, his feelings on representing Cyprus and Greece, and future plans. 

UFC 295 Preview & Analysis

UFC 295 is finally upon us and will mark the 30th anniversary of the world's biggest and best MMA promotion. Taking place in the...

Latest articles