From
grinder to showstopper: Danny Sabatello made a statement on
Saturday in Japan. | 📷: Rizin FF
Seeking to shake off his reputation as a one-dimensional wrestler,
Rizin Fighting Federation bantamweight champion Danny
Sabatello put forth one of the most entertaining performances
of his career in his main event victory Saturday at Rizin
Fighting Federation: Landmark Vol. 15 in Hiroshima, Japan.
Sabatello outstruck and outgrappled challenger Jinnosuke
Kashimura before brutally knocking Kashimura out in the third
round.
Sabatello (19-4-1, 5-0 Rizin) did face some adversity early in the
first round. Kashimura (12-6, 2-2 Rizin) struck first with a head
kick and a left hook, but his attempt to take Sabatello down led to
the American reversing into top position. Kashimura quickly
scrambled and trapped Sabatello in an inverted triangle choke, but
the champion was unfazed and he worked his way free. On the feet,
the Bellator
MMA and
Professional Fighters League veteran dropped Kashimura with a
right hook and hunted for a finish with soccer kicks and more
punches.
Advertisement
In the second frame, Kashimura tried to set up another inverted
triangle choke when the fight hit the mat, but this time Sabatello
was wise to it and got back to his feet. When Kashimura pulled
guard, Sabatello stayed on top and punched Kashimura’s ribs and
face while preventing him from securing any submissions from the
bottom.
Sabatello showcases improved striking against Jinnosuke
Kashimura
Kashimura tried to lure Sabatello into a ground fight in Round 3,
and Sabatello was having none of it. Kashimura was forced to stand
up and Sabatello landed a massive right hand–surely the best punch
of his eight-year career–and an unconscious Kashimura crashed
backward to the mat. The official time of the knockout came at the
40-second mark and an elated Sabatello leapt into the air.
Kashimura was taken out of the cage on a stretcher. Post-fight, Sabatello expressed his goal to become the first
fighter to make four successful Rizin title defenses within one
year. He plans to make a quick return to the cage to compete again
at “Super Rizin 5” in September.
Karshyga
Dautbek (19-3, 1 NC; 5-1, 1 NC Rizin) took a while to get going
in his featherweight co-main event bout against Kyohei
Hagiwara (9-12, 1 NC; 8-10, 1 NC Rizin), but all it took was
one punch to change the course of the fight in an instant. Dautbek
and Hagiwara circled and traded cautious strikes for the first four
minutes, with neither man committing to any significant offense.
Then, just as the round entered its final minute, Dautbek sent
Hagiwara flying to the mat with a left hook. Hagiwara covered up
against a corner post as Dautbek followed up with two more punches,
and the bout was stopped at the 4:08 mark of the opening round.
Post-fight, Dautbek expressed interest in challenging for Rizin’s
featherweight title. He has not lost a fight for more than seven
years.
With Rizin FF featherweight champion Rajabali
Shaidullaev in his corner, Yrysbek
Tilenov (8-1, 1-0 Rizin) made a successful promotional debut by
stopping standout wrestler Shinobu Ota
(8-6, 7-6 Rizin) in the second round of their bantamweight contest.
Ota took Tilenov down into mount in the first minute, but Tilenov
scrambled up and tried to suplex Ota, who turned into the clinch.
Ota then pulled guard with a guillotine choke and Tilenov escaped
to his feet again. There was a lengthy delay in the second round
after Ota was kneed in the groin, but the fight continued and
Tilenov landed a spinning back kick and two right hands. He backed
Ota up with punches and a knee, which caused Ota to stumble and
lose his balance. Tilenov threw one more knee to the side of Ota’s
head that caused Ota to fall to his back, and the bout was waved
off at the 3:04 mark of Round 2.
The main card kicked off with an entertaining flyweight clash
between Erson
Yamamoto (7-8, 6-8 Rizin) and Hiroya
Kondo (10-16-1, 3-6 Rizin). Kondo jumped into a flying
guillotine choke and pulled Yamamoto down to the ground, but
Yamamoto freed his neck and struck with elbows before taking
Kondo’s back. Kondo pushed Yamamoto away and Yamamoto secured two
more clinches. He cracked Kondo with a right hook just before the
bell. The southpaw Yamamoto landed left hooks in between scoring
two trip takedowns in the second round. Kondo quickly stood up and
both men battled for position against the cage. Kondo hopped on to
Yamamoto’s back in the final round, but that was short-lived and
both men landed flurries of punches. Kondo reversed a takedown from
Yamamoto and the fighters then traded punches and leg kicks for the
final minute. All three judges scored the fight for Yamamoto, who
took home the unanimous decision victory.
After missing weight for his last outing, Johnny Case
(29-10-1, 1 NC; 5-4, 1 NC Rizin) redeemed himself with an
impressive first-round stoppage victory against Tenya
Yoshimura (5-4, 0-2 Rizin) at lightweight. Case countered
Yoshimura’s leg kicks with lead left hands in the first minute of
the fight. He landed quick one-twos and then floored Yoshimura with
a right uppercut, left hook combo. Case pounced on Yoshimura and
landed a barrage of punches and hammerfists that caused blood to
pour from Yoshimura’s nose and ended the fight at the 3:14 mark of
Round 1.
Avenging a loss from 14 months prior, Saori
Oshima (17-7, 6-1 Rizin) wasted no time at all in winning her
super atomweight rematch against Ye Ji Lee
(7-9, 0-1 Rizin), who upset Oshima in the pair’s first meeting.
Oshima, the reigning Deep and Deep Jewels microweight champion,
latched on to Lee’s arm and threw her to the mat 90 seconds into
the fight. Lee immediately sprung back up to her feet and took
Oshima’s back, then suplexed her down to the ground. Oshima rolled
into a kneebar on Lee’s right leg and Lee hastily tapped out while
in great pain. The entire finishing sequence took just five
seconds, and the official time of Oshima’s tapout win came at the
1:40 mark of Round 1.
Former Rizin title challenger Si Woo Park
(14-6, 4-1 Rizin) made a successful return to the promotion and won
her super atomweight duel against Moeri Suda
(15-8, 2-1 Rizin) after three hard-fought rounds. Suda picked Park
up and dumped her to the mat 90 seconds into the fight, but Park
quickly stood back up and she kicked at Suda’s lead leg before
dropping her with a left hook just before the bell. Park fought off
Suda’s takedown attempts in the second round and Suda chased after
her with lunging punches. Park was given a yellow card for
outstretching her fingers, as she had already been verbally warned
multiple times. As the close fight entered its final round, Suda
continued to pursue takedowns and Park stayed on her feet. She
bloodied Suda’s nose, but Suda remained the aggressor and walked
forward throwing punches. Despite the point deduction in the second
round, Park was awarded a unanimous decision victory by the
judges.
Winning for the first time in nearly five years, Shoji
Maruyama (18-18-1, 2-5 Rizin) earned a unanimous decision
victory over Genji Umeno
(2-2, 2-2 Rizin) at a catchweight of 141 pounds. Maruyama took
Umeno down against the cage in the opening round and used punches
to set up a far-side keylock attempt from side control. Umeno
defended well, but Maruyama closed out the round with punches from
the top. Maruyama put Umeno on the mat again in round two, and this
time he trapped him in a leg scissor choke. Umeno scrambled out and
he also escaped from a belly-down armbar late in the round.
Maruyama fatigued in round three, which allowed Umeno to score with
punches and standing elbows. Maruyama got Umeno down twice in the
second half of the round, and he locked on a tight arm-triangle
choke, but Umeno was saved by the bell. All three judges scored the
fight in favor of the veteran Maruyama.
Rizin mainstay Hiroaki
Suzuki (7-6, 7-6 Rizin) survived two knockdowns and rallied to
stop Hyuga
Miyagawa (7-8, 2-1 Rizin) in the second round of their
featherweight matchup. Suzuki was dropped early in the opening
round when the fighters’ heads clashed as Miyagawa landed a right
hook, and Miyagawa quickly followed up with punches on the ground,
but Suzuki recovered and a clinch battle ensued for most of the
round. Miyagawa knocked Suzuki down in the second stanza with a
straight right cross. Once more, Suzuki got back to his feet and he
tied Miyagawa up in a clinch. He dropped Miyagawa with four elbows
and then kneed him in the face on the ground for a sensational
comeback TKO victory at the 3:29 mark of Round 2.
Grachan champion Youta
Hayashi (13-9-1, 1-0 Rizin) spoiled the MMA return of Shinji
Sasaki (20-15-3, 0-3 Rizin) in a welterweight bout. Following
two lackluster rounds, Hayashi dropped Sasaki in the final round
and avoided a buggy choke attempt from the veteran. Hayashi pushed
a seated Sasaki up against the base of the cage and blasted him
with two vicious knees that badly broke Sasaki’s nose and knocked
him out cold. The time of the stoppage came at the 2:17 mark of
Round 3.
Stepping in on mere days’ notice, Kyohei
Takagi (6-1, 2-0 Rizin) extended his winning streak to four by
stopping Jae Hun Lee
(3-2, 0-1 Rizin) at flyweight. Takagi weathered an early storm of
punches from Lee, including two particularly strong right crosses,
and punched the sides of Lee’s head after taking him down. Lee was
unable to get back to his feet and Takagi continued to score with
effective ground strikes. The second round began with a takedown
for Lee, but Takagi eventually took Lee’s back and he almost
secured a finish with punches and hammerfists. In the final round,
Lee rocked Takagi with a lunging left hook and then trapped him in
a triangle choke. Takagi escaped into back control and he landed
unanswered punches until the bout was waved off at the 4:25 mark of
Round 3.
Opening up the middle portion of the event, Kojiro Shiba won a
lopsided unanimous decision against an overweight Haruto Matsushima
in what was intended to be a 120-pound kickboxing bout.
In two-round bouts on the early preliminary card, Namiko
Kawabata (7-5, 1-0 Rizin) soundly outstruck Ayane
Hirata (4-4, 0-1 Rizin) en route to a unanimous decision
victory at 108 pounds; Shota
Nagano (12-6, 1-0 Rizin) made a successful Rizin debut by
defeating Shuichi
Kanda (18-16-1, 0-1 Rizin) via unanimous decision at
bantamweight; Takuya
Shibamura (6-1, 1-0 Rizin) outpointed Taisei
Mizusugi (6-8, 0-1 Rizin) via split decision in a lightweight
contest that was not as close as one judge’s scorecard suggested;
and Jin Tanaka
easily defeated Kentaro
Tomita via unanimous decision in an amateur flyweight bout.