Super
Rizin 2 has a new matchup for promotion’s vacant bantamweight
championship.
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Hiromasa
Ougikubo will replace the injured Kai Asakura
and square off against Juan
Archuleta for the 135-pound belt on July 30 at Saitama Super
Arena in Saitama, Japan. The promotion announced the new bout after
Asakura recently revealed he would have to withdraw from the
event.
A former Bellator bantamweight king, Archuleta has won his last
three outings — two of which occurred under the Rizin banner. “The
Spaniard” last appeared at Rizin 42, where he outpointed Naoki Inoue
on May 6. He also owns victories over Soo Chul
Kim and Enrique
Barzola during his current streak.
Ougikubo, meanwhile, is coming off back-to-back defeats against
Kyoji Horguchi and Soo Chul
Kim in 2022. Prior to that, the 36-year-old Paraestra Matsudo
representative won five consecutive bouts under the Rizin banner,
including a decision against Asakura, the man he replaced.