At the Rizin FF World Grand Prix Finals event held at the famous Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan early Saturday morning, the new Rizin FF Open Weight Grand Prix Champion was crowned.
MMA/Kickboxing legend and former winner of the PRIDE FC Open Weight Grand Prix tournament, Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic advanced to the finals with stoppage wins over Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal in the quarterfinals earlier this weekend, as well as Baruto Kaito in his first of two fights on Saturday.
Cro Cop would go on from his semifinal victory over Kaito to meet Amir Aliakbari in the finals of the tournament. Aliakbari defeated former PRIDE Heavyweight Title contender and UFC veteran Heath Herring in the quarterfinals, as well as Valentin Moldavsky in the first of his two bouts on Saturday in the semifinals.
In their meeting in the Rizin FF ring in the Open Weight Grand Prix tournament finals,
Below are complete results from the Rizin FF World Grand Prix Finals 2016 event:
Rizin FF World Grand Prix 2016 Finals Results
* Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic def. Amir Aliakbari via TKO (strikes) to win the Rizin FF Open Weight Grand Prix 2016 tournament.
* Kron Gracie def. Tatsuya Kawajiri via submission (rear-naked choke) in round 2.
* Erson Yamamoto def. Hideo Tokoro via submission (armbar) in round 1.
* Rena Kubota def. Hanna Gujwan via KO (body kick) in round 3.
* Andy Nguyen def. Miyu Yamamoto via submission (armbar) in round 1.
* Kizaemon Saiga Dillin West via TKO (strikes) in round 1.
* Gabi Garcia def. Yumiko Hotta via TKO (punches) in round 1.
* Hayato Sakurai def. Wataru Sakata via TKO (punches) in round 2.
* Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic def. Baruto Kaito via TKO (knee to the body) in round 1.
* Amir Aliakbari def. Valentin Moldavsky via split decision.
Tenshin Nasukawa def. Dylan Kawika Oligo via submission (choke) in round 2.