The super atomweight grand prix semifinals are set for Rizin
38, as Ayaka
Hamasaki will face Si Woo
Park, while Seika Izawa
will square off against Anastasiya
Svetkivska on Sept. 25.
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The Japanese promotion recently announced the pairings. Svetkivska
is a replacement for Rena
Kubota, who withdrew from the bracket due to injury. Rizin 38
takes place at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, and features
a bantamweight clash pitting Kyoji
Horiguchi against Yuto
Hokamura. The event also includes a Super Rizin portion of the
card that is topped by an exhibition boxing match between Floyd
Mayweather and Mikuru
Asakura. A featherweight showdown between Kota Miura
and Bunchuai
Phonsungnoen was recently added to that portion of the
bill.
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A former Rizin champion, Hamasaki advanced
to the semifinals with a three-round verdict over Jessica
Aguilar at Rizin 37. That snapped a two-fight skid for the
40-year-old Tokyo native, who had fallen to Izawa in back-to-back
outings.
Park, meanwhile, punched her ticket to the Round of 4 with a
decision triumph against Kanna
Asakura at Rizin 37. It was the third straight win for the
South Korean, who bested Kubota in her Rizin debut.
Izawa, the reigning atomweight queen, is undefeated in seven
professional outings. The 24-year-old advanced in the grand prix by
submitting Maria
Laura Alves Fontoura in the opening stanza of their Rizin 37
encounter.
Svetkivska dropped a decision to Kubota in the quarterfinals of the
tournament at Rizin 37, but steps in since her recent opponent was
not able to heal in time to continue in the bracket. The Ukraine
native won her first two professional appearances by first-round
TKO before falling to Kubota.