Yogibo presents
#RIZIN33 at the Saitama Super Arena. Bantamweight GP Semi-Final
matchups confirmed. Former Champion and favorite Kai Asakura gets
Kenta Takizawa. Former UFC contender Naoki Inoue gets TUF runner up
Hiromasa Ougikubo.
#RIZIN #MMAhttps://t.co/XTqRMN4cep— RIZIN FF English (@rizin_English)
November 30, 2021
The Rizin Fighting Federation bantamweight grand prix will reach
its conclusion at the promotion’s signature New Year’s Eve
event.
The Japanese organization announced on Tuesday that Kai Asakura
will meet Kenta
Takizawa in one 135-pound semifinal at Rizin
33, while Naoki Inoue
will square off against Hiromasa
Ougikubo in the other half of the bracket. The finalists will
lock horns later on the card.
Rizin 33 takes place at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, and
will also see lightweight champion Roberto de
Souza defend his crown against an as yet to be announced
opponent. The card will be available internationally via
pay-per-view and will include English commentary featuring Joe
Ferraro and Damien
Brown. Additionally, Yuki Motoya
will face Yuto
Hokamura in a bantamweight grand prix alternate bout in case
one of the semifinalists is unable to compete or continue.
While Rizin had hoped to bring in more international fighters for
the New Year’s Eve card, promotion CEO Nobuyuki Sakakibara revealed
during a press conference that ongoing COVID-19 restrictions in
Japan have made achieving that goal difficult.
“We have had a rough year with COVID, and although we are grateful
to have been able to make it with Japanese fighters, we were very
much looking forward to bringing in international fighters for New
Year’s Eve,” he said. “However, the Japanese government has just
announced that Japan will be closing its borders for the next 30
days. We have still not been told that we are prohibited from
bringing in international fighters, so at the moment I will say
that we will continue to do our best to bring in international
fighters, but if that doesn’t work out we will have some ideas to
change up the current fight ideas we have.”