Rizin Fighting Federation lightweight champion Roberto
Satoshi de Souza extended his streak of stoppage victories to
four with a quick destruction of “Road to UFC” veteran Won Bin Ki
in the main event of
Rizin “World Series in Korea” in Incheon, South Korea on
Saturday. De Souza blitzed Ki with punches and choked him out just
50 seconds into their non-title main event bout.

De Souza (19-3, 12-2 Rizin) chose to stand with Ki (18-10, 0-1
Rizin) and that decision paid off when he landed a lunging right
hook that dropped the South Korean early in the fight. De Souza
followed up with more punches on the ground before he took Ki’s
back and locked on a rear-naked choke. Within seconds, Ki was
rendered unconscious and the brief fight was stopped.

While de Souza’s Rizin title was not on the line – a decision that
de Souza himself questioned, as he prides himself on being a
fighting champion – his performance once again affirmed his status
as the premier lightweight on the Rizin roster. Even more
impressively, the 35-year-old has torn through his recent
opposition and finished four consecutive opponents inside the first
round.

In the bantamweight co-main event, Shoko Sato
avenged a loss from all the way back at Road FC 8 in June 2012 when
he outpointed multi-time
Road FC titleholder Soo Chul
Kim via unanimous decision.

Sato (37-16-2, 1 NC, 3-1 Rizin) countered an early takedown from
Kim (23-9-1, 1 NC, 3-3 Rizin) by attacking with an inverted
triangle choke attempt from the bottom. He used that to create a
scramble and got back to his feet, where he stunned Kim on three
occasions with counter right hooks as Kim closed the distance. Kim
was able to get the fight down to the mat once more before time
expired.

Sato hurt Kim two more times in the second round by again timing
his movement and landing counter right hands, but he was unable to
put his Korean foe away. Kim continued to pursue takedowns as the
fight progressed, but Sato’s hard elbows left Kim’s face a bloody
mess as the minutes ticked down. When Kim finally got Sato down,
time ran out soon after and the bout went to the scorecards. All
three judges sided with Sato for a unanimous decision victory. The
17-year veteran has posted wins in four of his past five fights and
remains a top contender in the bantamweight division.

Failing to make weight robbed Johnny Case
of what would have been one of his best victories in a lightweight
matchup against former Deep and Black
Combat titlist Juri Ohara.
Case (28-10-1, 1 NC, 4-4, 1 NC Rizin), who missed weight by more
than half a pound, hurt Ohara (36-21-2, 2 NC, 3-1, 1 NC Rizin) with
several leg kicks before knocking him out with a massive right hook
at the 2:22 mark of Round 1. However, due to Case’s failure to make
weight, the bout was officially declared a no contest.

Opening up the main card, popular Deep Jewels fighter Keito Oyama
– better known as “Kate Lotus” – notched her first Rizin victory by
defeating former Road FC champion Yu Ri Shim
in a women’s super atomweight bout at 108 pounds.

The southpaw Oyama (7-7, 1-1 Rizin) attacked the lead leg of Shim
(6-6, 0-3 Rizin) with a series of kicks in the opening round while
also landing straight left hands that really stifled Shim’s ability
to get anything going. Oyama scored two takedowns early and late in
the second round, and she also fared well on the feet during the
time in between. In the final minute, she landed two knees to
Shim’s face while holding her against the cage.

Shim’s best success came in the final round when she scored with
knees and elbows during an early clinch. Oyama responded with two
more takedowns, and she trapped Shim in a tight rear-naked choke
just as the fight was coming to an end. The bell rang to
potentially save Shim and all three judges scored the bout in favor
of Oyama, who evened her pro record with the unanimous decision
victory. Oyama has won three of her past four bouts overall and has
improved at a fast pace during the past year.

Earlier on the card, Sho
Patrick Usami (8-4, 4-2 Rizin) narrowly defeated Si Won Kim
(4-2, 0-1 Rizin) via a close but unanimous decision in a
back-and-forth lightweight bout; Ji Yong
Yang (10-3, 1 NC; 3-1 Rizin) blitzed bantamweight veteran
Yuto
Hokamura (15-15-2, 3-7 Rizin) with punches for a TKO stoppage
at the 19-second mark of Round 3; Hyuk Min Ji
(5-1, 1-0 Rizin) overwhelmed Rizin mainstay Koji Takeda
(17-8, 7-8 Rizin) with knees and punches for a TKO finish at the
4:13 mark of Round 2 at featherweight; Young Jae
Song (8-1-1, 1-0 Rizin) knocked out a fatigued Yoshiki
Nakahara (18-8, 3-3 Rizin) with a right hook at the 1:28 mark
of Round 3 in their featherweight contest; and Yong Cheol
Kwon (1-0, 1-0 Rizin) made a successful pro MMA debut by
brutally mauling Kota Miura
(2-4, 2-4 Rizin) with elbows and punches in their 139-pound bout
that mercifully came to an end at the 2:46 mark of the opening
frame.

The event also featured a pair of kickboxing matches on the
preliminary card. San Hae Jo and Hide Meison Usami battled back and
forth in a thrilling matchup at 149 pounds that ended in a
unanimous draw after three rounds. The fight was easily one of the
best on the card. Opening up the action, Seiya Inoue earned a
unanimous decision win over Beom Jun Kang at 137 pounds.

IMAK ADMIN

By IMAK ADMIN

Internationaler Kampfkunst und Kampfsport Kleinanzeiger