Brazilian standout Luiz
Gustavo notched his sixth
Rizin Fighting Federation victory in a thrilling lightweight
main event on Saturday at Rizin
“Landmark Vol. 8” in Saga, Japan. Gustavo overcame a strong
second round from opponent Yoshinori
Horie and prevailed via unanimous decision. Early in the opening round, Gustavo (14-2, 6-2 Rizin) scored with a
head kick that seemed to land with full force, but Horie (13-5, 4-2
Rizin) barely flinched and he continued to press forward. The
fighters exchanged leg kicks and a welt began to form on Gustavo’s
left calf. He dropped Horie with a left hook late in the round,
however, and Horie stood and responded with an elbow at the
bell.

The second round was dominated by Horie, who took Gustavo down and
kept him pinned on the mat while punching from top position.
Gustavo rallied in the final stanza, however, and he rocked Horie
multiple times with punching flurries. With one minute remaining,
Gustavo dropped Horie with a right hook and he closed out the fight
with hammerfists.

All three judges scored the action-packed fight in favor of
Gustavo, who has won four straight fights in Rizin since returning
to the promotion in April 2022. He has now put himself in
contention for a future shot at the Rizin lightweight title.

In the featherweight co-main event, 48-year-old grappling wizard
Masakazu
Imanari (40-22-2, 2-2 Rizin) stepped in on short notice and
submitted Kazumasa
Majima (16-5, 2-4 Rizin) with a lightning-fast armbar at the
1:37 mark of Round 2.

The first round was largely controlled by Imanari from bottom
position. He attempted heel hooks and a kneebar early on and then
attacked with slashing elbow strikes while preventing Majima from
mounting any offense. That changed in a hurry in the second round
and Majima battered Imanari with elbows that nearly ended the
fight. Just as he appeared to be on the brink of defeat, Imanari
threw up his legs and trapped Majima in an armbar that forced
Majima to immediately tap out.

A lightweight bout between Yusuke
Yachi (26-13, 10-7 Rizin) and Rikuto
Shirakawa (11-9-1, 3-3 Rizin) got off to a slow start, but
things picked up as the fight progressed. Shirakawa had some early
striking success, but his output slowed way down and Yachi began to
land counter combinations that shifted the momentum.

Yachi controlled the entire second round in the clinch and against
the base of the cage after taking Shirakawa down. He transitioned
to Shirakawa’s back and locked on a tight face crank across
Shirakawa’s chin. Yachi’s forearm was never below the chin for a
rear-naked choke, but the sheer pressure on Shirakawa’s jaw was
still enough to render him unconscious.

The bell sounded to end the round, but referee Akira Shibata
recognized that Shirakawa had gone out and he waved off the fight.
The official time of the technical submission stoppage came at 5:00
of Round 2.

Rounding out the four-fight main card, former Deep Jewels champion
Saori
Oshima (13-4, 4-0 Rizin) stepped in for injured teammate
Ayaka
Hamasaki and scored a second-round submission victory over
recent Rizin title challenger Claire
Lopez (8-6, 1-2 Rizin) in a 108-pound women’s super atomweight
contest.

Oshima scored three takedowns and attempted a rolling kimura in the
opening frame, but Lopez escaped to her feet and she kicked at a
downed Oshima’s legs. Late in the round, Lopez reversed a scarf
hold armlock attempt from Oshima and wound up on top again.

Lopez tagged Oshima with some hard punches on the feet in the
second round and Oshima seemed like she might be fading until she
got Lopez down into another scarf hold armlock attempt. Lopez
immediately swept again, but this time Oshima went belly-down with
an armbar and Lopez tapped out. The finish came at the 3:18 mark of
Round 2. Following her win, Oshima politely requested a shot at the
Rizin FF women’s super atomweight title that is currently held by
undefeated champion Seika
Izawa.

Earlier on the card, Hiroaki
Suzuki (4-3, 4-3 Rizin) used a soccer kick and punches to score
a TKO victory over Takahiro
Ashida (24-14-2, 2-4 Rizin) at the 4:29 mark of Round 1 at
featherweight; Daichi Abe
(13-7, 4-2 Rizin) knocked out Kota
Shirakawa (4-5, 0-1 Rizin) with a brutal right hook at the 1:35
mark of Round 1 in the lone welterweight bout on the card; and Road
to UFC veteran Shohei Nose
(12-4-2, 1-0 Rizin) steamrolled Kenta
Takizawa (13-11, 3-6 Rizin) before finishing him with elbows at
the 2:48 mark of Round 2 in bantamweight action.

Rounding out the MMA results, Yuki Ito
(16-5, 6-1 Rizin) won a three-round unanimous decision over
Masatoshi
Ueda (20-10-3, 0-1 Rizin) at flyweight; Ryuhei
Sakai (3-1, 1-0 Rizin) eked out a split-decision win against
Ryoga
Fukuchi (3-6, 0-1 Rizin) in a two-round catchweight bout at 132
pounds; and bantamweight Daiki
Yahiro (5-2, 1-0 Rizin) won his Rizin debut by submitting
Yuto
Araki (1-1, 0-1 Rizin) with a rear-naked choke at the 2:36 mark
of Round 1.

In kickboxing bouts, Takumi Terada defeated Takekiyo Tominaga via
TKO (three knockdowns) at the 1:54 mark of Round 1 in 128-pound
action; Reito Bravely knocked out Kyohei Furumura with a left cross
at the 1:49 mark of Round 1 in a 138-pound contest; Rikito won his
138-pound bout against Hannya Hashimoto via unanimous decision; and
Satoshi Katashima opened up the card at 117 pounds with a majority
decision win against Keito Ishigo.

IMAK ADMIN

By IMAK ADMIN

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