A rare triplicate of title throwdowns will top the next tentpole
card for Rizin Fighting Federation in April.
In a press conference on Wednesday night, the organization
announced its next event, Rizin 35, which will take place on April
17. The event will be held not in Saitama, Japan, but instead in
Tokyo at the Musashino Forest Sport Plaza. The three championship
tilts on one evening ties a record set at Rizin 20 in 2019, when
three belts were on the line plus a tournament took place that
night as well. This blockbuster card will draw lightweights on the
marquee, as Roberto de
Souza (13-1) aims to defend his throne against the returning
Johnny
Case (27-7-1).
“Satoshi” fought three times in 2021, claiming the inaugural belt
against Tofiq
Musayev at Rizin 28 and holding on to it six months later when
he tapped out Yusuke
Yachi at Rizin 33. With six wins under the Rizin banner, every
one has ended within two rounds, with half by tapout and the other
due to strikes. His lone career defeat came against Case in the
first round of the lightweight grand prix in 2019, and Case made
him submit to strikes in 75 seconds.
Case has not competed since his tournament semifinal pairing with
Musayev, and he was punched out just beyond the midpoint of the
opening round. The loss put an end to a six-fight unbeaten streak,
which included three knockouts with Rizin in the most unusual of
ways: doctor stoppage, corner stoppage and tap to strikes. Case was
initially slated to return to the Professional Fighters League in 2021, but he
was ejected from the 2021 season before competing due to an
arrest for domestic battery.
The other belts up for grabs at Rizin 35 come in the featherweight
and women’s atomweight divisions. The co-headliner will see
Juntaro
Ushiku (19-6) defend his strap against ex-champ Yutaka
Saito (20-6-2), while Ayaka
Hamasaki (23-4) will offer up a shot at gold to the woman who
recently beat her in Seika Izawa
(5-0). Ushiku and Saito first met in October 2021, and Ushiku
claimed the strap by forcing the doctor to intervene late into
Round 2.
Additionally, Rizin brass announced an event that would take place
the day before Rizin 35, held in the same building. Rizin
Trigger 3rd will go down on April 16, but unlike Rizin 35,
these fights will be contested inside of a cage. The main event for
that card comes at 155 pounds between
Luiz Gustavo Felix dos Santos (10-2) and Yachi (23-12). The two
additional bouts set for that show will be held at bantamweight and
featherweight, when Yuto
Hokamura (18-12-2) fights Kazuma
Kuramoto (8-2) at 135 pounds while Masanori
Kanehara (26-12-5) faces Kazumasa
Majima (14-3) in the 145-pound division.