Yogibo presents
#RIZIN28 and
#RIZIN29 at the Tokyo Dome and Maruzen Intec Arena Hall
respectively, Bantamweight Japan GP opening round confirms fight
schedule, Yachi gets current SHOOTO Champion. https://t.co/YOvVSGXwSp— RIZIN FF English (@rizin_English)
April 25, 2021
Rizin Fighting Federation’s upcoming event scheduled for the Tokyo
Dome will take place a few weeks later than originally
anticipated.
Rizin CEO Nobuyuki Sakakibara recently announced that the card,
which was originally slated for May 23, will now take place on June
13 in hopes of allowing more fans into the venue.
“The Japanese government has declared the state of emergency in
four cities starting April 25 to May 9, which will significantly
affect the May 23 Tokyo Dome event. Therefore we have decided to
push back the event to June 13,” Sakakibara said. “MMA will be
making its return after 18 years, and we want to put in as many
spectators as possible for such a historical moment. Right now we
would only be able to put in 5,000 spectators, but we are hoping
that by June 13, we would be able to put in 50 percent capacity,
which will be about 25,000 people. Our production team is working
hard to give you the best experience at the Tokyo Dome, so I hope
you all stay tuned.”
As a result of the change, the numbering convention for the next
two Rizin events will be a little bit confusing. The postponed card
will remain Rizin 28 on June 13, while Rizin 29 will take place two
weeks prior as originally scheduled on May 30.
“I know this may be confusing but since we have already started to
sell tickets to both events, we will be sticking with these event
numbers,” Sakakibara said. “Anybody who has already purchased
tickets for Rizin 28 and cannot attend the new date, we will
happily make refunds.
Both upcoming events will feature opening round matchups in the
promotion’s bantamweight grand prix. The following pairings will
take place at Rizin 28: Kai Asakura
vs. Shooto Watanabe; Naoki Inoue
vs. Shintaro
Ishiwatari; Hiromasa
Ougikubo vs. Takeshi
Kasugai and Yuki Motoya
vs. Ryo
Okada. Meanwhile, four other matchups are set for Rizin 29:
Yuto
Hokamura vs. Kuya Ito;
Takafumi
Otsuka vs. Hiroki
Yamashita; Kazuma
Kuramoto vs. Alan Hiro Yamaniha and Kenta
Takizawa vs. Masakazu
Imanari.
Two new bouts were announced for Rizin 29: Yusuke
Yachi vs. Yuki Kawana
and Rikuto
Shirakawa vs. Jin Aoi. Rizin
29 is also expected to include a one-night kickboxing tournament,
with participants to be announced in the coming weeks.