Referee Repeatedly Punched In Chaotic Brawl at RIZIN NYE

A referee was punched multiple times during RIZIN NYE: Decade, as Rukiya Anpo and Sina Karimian got into a brawl. Japanese New Year’s Eve events typically have “freakshow” fights and weird spectacles, and this year’s main specta…


Brawl at RIZIN 49

A referee was punched multiple times during RIZIN NYE: Decade, as Rukiya Anpo and Sina Karimian got into a brawl.

Japanese New Year’s Eve events typically have “freakshow” fights and weird spectacles, and this year’s main spectacle originally had Ryan Garcia set to face Rikiya Anpo at RIZIN 49: Decade. The boxing superstar pulled out due to injury, but the replacement fight was equally chaotic.

Anpo went from being booked to face a 140 lb. boxer to facing Sina Karimian, a 215 lb. K-1 champion known for breaking the rules. Apart from the massive size difference, the fight devolved into madness by the end.

Anpo, who arguably got the better of Manny Pacquiao earlier in the year, showed a significant boxing skill advantage from the get go. Despite the massive size disadvantage, Anpo was too fast and too slick for Karimian, and he handily peppered his Iranian opponent.

As he was on the way to losing a wide decision, Karimian decided to showboat and taunt Anpo to stay in the center and brawl with him. When it didn’t work, he lived up to his reputation and started breaking the rules of their boxing match.

In the sixth and final round, Karimian started throwing illegal spinning backfists that got him warnings from the referee. When Karimian did it again, Anpo threw a backfist of his own, and both men decided to ignore the referee’s attempts to call for a break.

Madness ensued after. Both fighters kept throwing, and it led to the referee taking multiple punches, mostly from Karimian.

No point deductions or disqualifications were handed out. Once several officials came in to break things up, the fight was just eventually restarted.

There referee seemingly got stung after taking those punches, but he continued his job and officiated the fight up until the end.

Anpo continued where he left off, landing clean power shots that couldn’t put the bigger Karimian down. The Japanese fighter eventually won a shut out, with 60-54 scores from all three judges.

Full results from RIZIN 49: Decade can be found here.