— Kakutogi News (@KakutogiWorld)
September 27, 2020
Rizin Fighting Federation bantamweight champion Kai Asakura
was simply too much for Shoji
Maruyama.
Though his belt wasn’t on the line, Asakura was nonetheless in
prime form in the Rizin
24 headliner on Sunday, as he defeated Maruyama via technical
knockout 2:37 into Round 1 of their non-title affair at Saitama
Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. Asakura has now been victorious in
eight of nine appearances within the Japanese promotion.
Asakura took control from the outset, tagging Maruyama with a
variety of punches and kicks before dropping his opponent with a
one-two combination. As Maruyama attempted to hustle to his feet,
the Tri-Force Akasaka product rocked his man with a soccer kick,
forcing referee Yauhiro Tazawa to step in and wave off the bout. It
was Asakura’s second consecutive victory by way of soccer kicks; he
stopped Hiromasa
Ougikubo with the maneuver at Rizin 23 on Aug. 10.
In the card’s official main event, kickboxing sensation Tenshin
Nasukawa improved to 36-0 in that realm with a unanimous
decision triumph over Koji Tanaka. Nasukawa unloaded with punching
combinations, kicks to the head and body and flying knees but was
unable to put his durable adversary away, although he did open a
cut over Tanaka’s left eye during the performance.
Meanwhile, Deep lightweight champion Koji Takeda
emerged with a split-decision triumph against Shooto lightweight
king Yuki Kawana
in a matchup of champions from other organizations. The contest
featured plenty of spirited exchanges on the feet — including a
wild sprint to the finish in Round 3 — but a finish never arrived
as Takeda was successful in his first Rizin appearance.
— Mike Shytte (@MikeLovesTacosX)
September 27, 2020
In other action: Takasuke
Kume took a split verdict over Satoru
Kitaoka at lightweight; Kenta
Takizawa garnered a split-decision triumph against Yuto
Hokamura at bantamweight; Rena Kubota
outpointed Emi
Tomimatsu in a strawweight tilt; Takahiro
Ashida used a triangle hammer lock to dispatch Kyohei
Hagiwara 4:25 into the opening round at featherweight; Tsuyoshi
Sudario scored a doctor stoppage of Dylan James
3:00 into Round 1 due to a broken nose at heavyweight and Juri Ohara
captured a split decision over Yusuke
Yachi at lightweight.