Former lightweight title challenger Yoshinori
Horie earned an emphatic TKO victory in Saturday’s Rizin
Fighting Federation: Landmark Vol. 16 main event in Nagasaki,
Japan. Horie stopped Sho
Patrick Usami with a nasty elbow and follow-up punches in the
second round of the headliner, which underwent a late change
yesterday.

The bout between Horie (16-6, 7-3 Rizin) and Usami (9-6, 5-4 Rizin)
was scheduled to be contested at lightweight, but Usami came in
heavy at weigh-ins and an agreement was reached to move the fight
weight up to 160 pounds. The arrangement allowed Usami to avoid
penalties such as point deductions or the standard no contest rule
for weight misses, so the fight began on a level playing field.

Horie stops Usami in Round 2 of the Rizin Landmark Vol. 16 main
event

Horie’s first two takedown attempts were stuffed, and he lunged at
Usami with an overhand right. Usami landed a lead left hook in
response and then pulled guard with a guillotine choke. Horie
pushed Usami’s head against the cage, alleviating some of the
pressure on the choke. Once Horie had freed his neck, he punched
from Usami’s half-guard and then hurt him with knees. Usami stopped
moving entirely for a few seconds, but he sprang to his feet, and
the round ended with him trapped in a guillotine.

Usami was overly aggressive while rushing forward in the second
round, and Horie knocked him down with a counter right hook. Horie
spent the next three minutes working from his opponent’s guard,
where he landed enough punches to avoid being stood up. When Horie
connected with a sharp elbow to the bridge of Usami’s nose, Usami
rolled over and covered up. Horie followed with a few more punches,
prompting the stoppage at the 3:37 mark of Round 2.

Horie has won back-to-back fights this year since his unsuccessful
bid to become lightweight champion at Rizin 51. He previously
defeated Patricky
Freire at Landmark Vol. 13 in April, arguably the best victory
of Horie’s career.

After being outgrappled for nearly the entire first round, former
Rizin title challenger Viktor
Kolesnik (28-6-1, 5-2 Rizin) rallied to earn a TKO victory over
Koyomi
Matsushima (15-9, 0-2 Rizin) very early in the second round of
the featherweight co-feature. Matsushima hopped on Kolesnik’s back
and spent the first three minutes attacking his jaw with face
cranks. Kolesnik finally shook Matsushima off, and the Japanese
veteran attacked his leg with a heel hook attempt. Kolesnik’s only
success in the stanza came in the final 30 seconds, when he landed
a combination that forced his opponent to backpedal. Everything
changed in the second period when Matsushima shot for a takedown
and was hit with several elbows, including two that appeared to
strike him in the back of the head. Matsushima froze on the ground
as Kolesnik continued to throw elbows, and the fight was stopped
when the Russian stood up and soccer-kicked him in the head.
Matsushima appeared upset that he had been struck in the back of
the head, but Kolesnik was nevertheless declared the winner at the
20-second mark of Round 2.

Featherweight prospect Hyuma Yasui
(5-1, 2-1 Rizin) overcame fatigue and earned a dominant unanimous
decision victory over Ryan Cafaro
(15-7, 1 NC; 1-1 Rizin). Yasui used an early headlock throw to get
Cafaro into the scarf-hold position, but the American quickly
scrambled to his feet. Yasui took him down again and chained
together submissions until he trapped Cafaro in an inverted
triangle choke. Cafaro would not submit, and Yasui maintained back
control for the rest of the round. He hurt Cafaro seconds into the
second frame with a right cross, and the American’s attempts to
grapple were unsuccessful. Yasui backed him up with more right
hands, but he seemed to fatigue as Cafaro landed combinations. A
tired Yasui scored another takedown and locked on a tight
rear-naked choke just before the bell. In the final stanza, Yasui
fought his way out of a guillotine and an anaconda choke before
taking top position. He secured an arm-triangle choke that had
Cafaro on the verge of tapping, then transitioned to a rear-naked
choke but could not put him away. The American showed incredible
heart and determination by making it to the final bell, but all
three judges scored the fight 30-27 for Yasui.

The main card kicked off with another matchup in the women’s super
atomweight “invisible” tournament, where fight finishes and
aggression are favored most. Unfortunately, there was no finish and
very little action in the fight between Keito Oyama
(11-8, 4-2 Rizin) — better known as “Kate Lotus” — and Noeru
Narita (4-3, 2-2 Rizin). Oyama jabbed, while the 18-year-old
“Noel” used leg kicks to set up an overhand right. Oyama held
Narita against the cage for two minutes before the tepid first
round came to an end. The second stanza began with Oyama landing
two kicks before Narita tied her up in a clinch. She took Oyama
down and stayed on top in her guard, but the action remained
sparse. Oyama attacked Narita’s left leg with kicks in the early
stages of the final period. Narita scored a takedown at the midway
point and settled into her opponent’s guard again. The fighters
were stood up due to inactivity, and they exchanged punches during
the final 15 seconds of the lackluster fight. One judge scored the
bout 29-28 for Narita, while the remaining two had it 30-27 and
29-28, respectively, in favor of Oyama for a split decision victory
that did not thrill the crowd.

Highly entertaining flyweight prospect Kyohei
Takagi (7-1, 3-0 Rizin) extended his winning streak with a
first-round mauling of the much more experienced Masatoshi
Ueda (22-14-3, 0-2 Rizin), who was bludgeoned on the ground.
Takagi held an edge in the early boxing exchanges, but he chose to
clinch with Ueda and then took him down into half-guard. When Ueda
postured for an armbar, Takagi blasted him with punches and
hammerfists. Ueda rolled to his side, and Takagi landed knees and
right hands until the fight was waved off at the 3:26 mark. Takagi
is now 5-0 in 2026.

In an incredible bantamweight battle, Seiya Inoue
(2-1, 2-1 Rizin) outlasted fellow striker Ryusei
Ashizawa (2-5, 2-5 Rizin) to earn a thrilling TKO finish. Inoue
targeted Ashizawa’s taped left knee with kicks and then floored him
with a big left hook. Ashizawa recovered and got to his feet before
knocking Inoue down with a counter hook. Inoue stood and staggered
Ashizawa with two left hooks, then dropped him with another left
hand but couldn’t secure the finish. Finally, just as the round was
about to end, Inoue scored one last knockdown and followed up with
two punches that prompted referee Tatsuro Nagase to dive in and
rescue a badly dazed Ashizawa. The official time was 4:56 of Round
1, and the bout was an easy Round of the Year contender.

Former Grachan champion Hidetaka
Arato (12-4, 2-1 Rizin) scored a much-needed unanimous decision
win over Ken
Hasegawa (18-7-1, 0-2 Rizin) in a surprisingly action-filled
heavyweight battle. Hasegawa held a considerable speed advantage in
the first round and landed quick punches that kept Arato on the
defensive. He outstruck his opponent throughout the period with
lead right hooks and straight left hands. Very late in the stanza,
Arato rocked Hasegawa with a right hook and then dropped him
face-first with more punches, but Hasegawa — who had been in
complete control for 4:45 — was saved by the bell. The second frame
began with Hasegawa backing Arato up with elbows before the latter
countered with two uppercuts. Arato eventually dropped him with a
combination against the cage and tried to finish with elbows. Once
more, Hasegawa made it to the end of the round. The pace slowed in
the final five minutes as the exhausted fighters battled in
clinches. Arato threw Hasegawa to the ground and mounted him in the
dying seconds but could not secure the finish. All three judges
scored the bout for Arato, who halted a three-fight losing
skid.

Bantamweight grappler Alan
Yamaniha (23-11-4, 6-2 Rizin) made a successful return to
action and earned his second consecutive victory over Seigo
Yamamoto (7-16-1, 0-3 Rizin) in a rematch nearly two years
after their first fight. Yamaniha pulled half-guard after absorbing
a flying knee to begin the bout and spent the next two minutes
holding a kneeling Yamamoto against the base of the cage. When
Yamamoto stood and tried to stomp Yamaniha’s face, the Brazilian
latched on to his leg and pulled back on a kneebar for the tapout
victory at the 3:00 mark of Round 1.

Veteran Deep contender Kohei
Sugiyama (17-10, 1-1 Rizin) earned a split decision victory
over Grachan champion Kaito Oda
(8-4, 0-1 Rizin) in a flyweight bout that was not as close as one
judge’s scorecard suggested. Oda knocked Sugiyama down with punches
against the cage in the opening minute but could not secure a
finish. Most of the first round was contested in clinch battles,
though Oda landed another punching flurry and a knee. Sugiyama took
him down with 25 seconds remaining and scored another takedown into
back control early in the second stanza. A series of scrambles
followed before Sugiyama caught Oda in a guillotine choke. Shortly
before time expired, Sugiyama postured up and landed hammerfists to
Oda’s face. The final period began with 50 seconds of continuous
punching until Sugiyama took his opponent down once more. He
secured a high-elbow guillotine choke and then took Oda’s back.
Sugiyama maintained the position with rear-naked choke attempts
until the bell, and two of the three judges scored the fight in his
favor.

In early preliminary card action, Ryota Oki
(7-5, 2-0 Rizin) stopped Daisuke
Okumiya (9-6-1, 0-1 Rizin) with punches and soccer kicks at the
4:47 mark of Round 1 in lightweight MMA action; Kotaro Mori knocked
out Yuuki Kaneeda with a right hook at the 1:42 mark of Round 2 in
a 220-pound kickboxing clash; Ryusei Imamura blitzed Reon Uemura
with punches for a TKO victory 1:39 into their flyweight kickboxing
match; and Ayuto Kaneeda earned a lopsided unanimous decision
victory over Kakeru Tsuda, who incurred a two-point penalty for
missing weight for the 143-pound kickboxing bout.

IMAK ADMIN

By IMAK ADMIN

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