Spike Carlyle got a massive submission win at RIZIN 35.
Carlyle made his RIZIN debut over the weekend after submitting Dan Moret in Bellator but opted to sign with the Japanese-based promotion instead. Carlyle had spoken about his goal was to fight in Japan and on the weekend, he got his wish as he fought Koji Takeda at RIZIN 35.
On the card, Carlyle was fighting Takeda who is a RIZIN and DEEP veteran and was 13-2 entering the fight. However, ‘The Alpha Ginger’ got the fight to the ground in the second and had a nasty guillotine that put Takeda out cold. The 26-year-old decided not to tap and instead went to sleep which gave Carlyle the massive win.
As mentioned, Carlyle has spoken about wanting to compete in Japan for RIZIN years and now he got his wish. Not only did he get to compete in Japan but he got a stoppage win to go along with it.
“My heart has always been set for Japan, for Rizin,” Carlyle said after his win. “It would be an amazing thing to win a belt in Japan and come over to Bellator and compete for the world title here, as well. … I’ll go wherever the good Lord takes me.”
With the win, Spike Carlyle improved to 14-3 as a pro and is on a five-fight win streak since his UFC departure. The fan-favorite won his debut by TKO over Aalon Cruz but suffered back-to-back decision losses to Billy Quarantillo and Bill Algeo in the UFC and was released.
After the release, he picked up a win in LFA, Ballys Fight Night, Cage Warriors, and Bellator. But now, the home for Carlyle is RIZIN and he will look to make a run up the ranks to an eventual title shot.
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