Rizin Fighting Federation is not messing around
with its trip to Tokyo this June.

The organization broke the news on Friday morning, announcing
a trio of noteworthy pairings for Rizin 47 on June 9. The event
will be held at the Yoyogi National Gymnasium in Tokyo. The main
attraction will come at the bantamweight division, when Sergio
Pettis (23-6) and Kyoji
Horiguchi (32-5, 1 NC) run back a thrilling encounter in
2021.

Horiguchi and Pettis first met atop Bellator 272, with Pettis
defending his Bellator MMA bantamweight throne against his Japanese
counterpart. The American Top Team fighter likely won all three
rounds leading into Round 4, only for Pettis to put him away with a
spinning back fist in a stunning comeback and
Sherdog’s 2021 “Knockout of the Year” winner. Coming into the
encounter, Horiguchi had previously held the division’s belt, only
to surrender it willingly due to injury.

After losing to Pettis, Horiguchi remained under the Bellator
banner so that he could join the 2022 bantamweight grand prix.
Horiguchi faced off against eventual tourney victor and champion
Patrick
Mix, where he came out on the wrong end of a close decision. He
returned to the Rizin banner a few months later, sleeping Yuto
Hokamura with an arm-triangle and then beating old rival
Hiromasa
Ougikubo, with the latter his first appearance at 125 pounds
since 2017. Horiguchi ultimately claimed the inaugural Rizin
flyweight belt after two appearances against Makoto
Takahashi, with the first ending by eye poke in 25 seconds.

Pettis has not been in action much since wrecking Horiguchi in
2021. Forced out all of 2022 and half of 2023 with a torn ACL,
Pettis went on to defend the 135-pound belt against Patricio
Freire last year. He put it up for grabs once more against
tournament champion Mix, only for Mix to tap him with a
second-round rear-naked choke. This will be Pettis’ first
appearance under the Rizin banner, with six Bellator bouts under
his belt to date.

Two other high-stakes tilts have been booked for the Rizin 47
lineup as well. Likely serving as the co-headliner, former Rizin
featherweight champ Kleber
Koike Erbst (32-7-1, 1 NC) will compete against ex-Rizin
bantamweight kingpin Juan
Archuleta (29-5) at 145 pounds. Additionally, a pair of 145ers
come to blows as Karshyga
Dautbek (14-3) tries again to get his first Rizin win against
relative promotional vet Tetsuya
Seki (15-9-1).

IMAK ADMIN

By IMAK ADMIN

Internationaler Kampfkunst und Kampfsport Kleinanzeiger