The long-rumored Rizin Fighting Federation bantamweight
tournament now has all 16 of its participants lined up.
On Friday morning, the Japanese promotion held a press conference
where it announced 16 members of the upcoming all-Japan
bantamweight grand prix. A notable absence in the tourney is
current Rizin 135-pound king Kyoji
Horiguchi, and it is rumored
that he will be heading to Bellator MMA to pursue his former belt. After that
bout, Horiguchi may return to Rizin to face that same opponent in
the Rizin ring with his Rizin belt on the line. The winner of that
bout may face the tournament champ for the Rizin title.
The tournament will begin on May 23, where four of the eight
opening round matches will take place inside the Tokyo Dome in
Tokyo. The only bout official for that Rizin
28 event is Kai
Asakura’s (16-3), who gets his wish to compete in the massive
stadium after speaking to Rizin head Nobuyuki Sakakibara at Rizin
27 in March. On that card, Asakura will be facing Shuto
Watanabe (22-5-6), who landed a submission over Takumi
Tamaru in March to earn a spot in the bracket.
The second event staging the opening round will be Rizin
29 at the Maruzen Intech Arena Osaka in Osaka, Japan, one week
later. The second round is currently targeted for the end of
September, and a venue is not yet set as the organization is
waiting on the news of the Tokyo Olympics. New Year’s Eve will
carry the blockbuster show which will see both the semifinals and
finals go down in one night. Other notable names of the 16 include
ex-Ultimate Fighting Championship talent Naoki
Inoue, legendary leglock specialist Masakazu
Imanari and “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 24 competitor
Hiromasa
Ougikubo.
Per the promoter, Japanese borders are closed off to international
travelers, with some minor exceptions. This Tokyo Dome caps at
10,000 fans at the moment, but Rizin hopes it will expand to 50
percent capacity by the end of May. That card does not have any
other bouts scheduled, although the organization is looking to book
a lightweight title fight. The plan is for champ Tofiq
Musayev to take on Roberto de
Souza, but this hinges on getting the Azerbaijani into the
country. The last time Sakakibara staged an event in the Tokyo Dome
was Pride Final Conflict 2003, which concluded the 2003 Pride
Middleweight Grand Prix.
The winner of the tournament will be awarded 10 million Japanese
Yen ($91,178) while the runner-up will receive half that amount of
5 million Japanese Yen ($45,589). In addition, the organization is
planning on doling out five bonuses after the tournament concludes,
each for 1 million Japanese Yen ($9,118), for the following
categories: best bout (two of those awards), best knockout, best
submission and fastest finish.
The specific brackets of the tournament to determine future
matchups have not yet been announced. It is unclear if the league
plans on running another drawing to determine the second round. The
eight bouts, in which seven have not been given official dates, are
as follows:
Kai
Asakura (16-3) vs. Shuto
Watanabe (22-5-6)
Hiroki
Yamashita (8-8) vs. Takafumi
Otsuka (28-17-2)
Yuki
Motoya (25-9, 1 NC) vs. Ryo Okada
(17-4-3)
Yuto
Hokamura (17-10-2) vs. Kuya Ito
(10-8-1)
Kenta
Takizawa (11-7) vs. Masakazu
Imanari (38-19-2)
Kazuma
Kuramoto (8-1) vs. Alan
Yoshihiro Yamaniha (17-8-4)
Takeshi
Kasugai (26-7-1, 1 NC) vs. Hiromasa
Ougikubo (21-5-2)
Naoki
Inoue (15-2) vs. Shintaro
Ishiwatari (26-8-4)