Tag: RIZIN News

Official – Floyd Mayweather Set For September Exhibition Boxing Match Against Mikuru Asakura

Floyd MayweatherUndefeated former professional boxer, Floyd Mayweather is set for another high-profile exhibition boxing matchup since his 2017 retirement from the sport – this time drawing former two-weight RINGS champion and Rizin FF staple, Mikuru Asakura at a September event in a Japan return. Floyd Mayweather ended his decorated pro career boasting a 50-0 record Mayweather, […]

Floyd Mayweather

Undefeated former professional boxer, Floyd Mayweather is set for another high-profile exhibition boxing matchup since his 2017 retirement from the sport – this time drawing former two-weight RINGS champion and Rizin FF staple, Mikuru Asakura at a September event in a Japan return.

Floyd Mayweather ended his decorated pro career boasting a 50-0 record

Mayweather, a former multiple-weight, multiple-time world champion in professional boxing, boasts an undefeated 50-0 professional record, calling time on his career following his final outing in August 2017.

In his most recent professional foray, Grand Rapids native, Mayweather competed against former undisputed UFC featherweight and lightweight champion, Conor McGregor – scoring a tenth round TKO win over the Dubliner at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Taking part in a trio of lucrative exhibition outings since then, Mayweather defeated Japanese kickboxing starlet, Tenshin Nasukawa in December of that year, before returning for a pair of matchups against YouTuber, Logan Paul, and then just last month in Abu Dhabi, UAE – Don Moore. 

Set to return in tandem with Japanese promotion, Rizin FF in September for an exhibition outing against Asakura – the elder sibling of standout, Kai Asakura – official length and rules for the exhibition bout have yet to be determined at the time of publication.

“My legacy is already engraved in stone, like I said before, but it’s still great just to go around the world and entertain people from all walks of life,” Floyd Mayweather said at a press event to promote the bout. “I’m pretty sure he’s (Mikuru Asakura) gonna come out and give his best, like any and every guy, but I’ve seen every style, so, my job is just to go out there, be me, have fun and do what I do best.”

“September, we’re going to have fun and entertain people,” Floyd Mayweather continued. “I’m Floyd Mayweather to him. He’s just another opponent to me.” 

16-3 as a professional mixed martial artist, Asakura, who boasts eight career knockout victories, is currently riding a two-fight winning run – landing career decision wins six and seven against Kyohei Hagiware, and in December of last year, Yutaka Saito. 

“My name is Mikuru Asakura, and I’ll be fighting Floyd Mayweahter,” Asakura said. “I’m an MMA fighter but I’m going to use this opportunity and I’m going to use him to raise my name and value internationally. I’m going to win this fight.” (Transcribed by Sky Sports)

Video – UFC Alum Spike Carlyle Out Choke Opponent At Rizin 35, Kisses His Head

Spike CarlyleSpike Carlyle has enjoyed a stunning run of five consecutive victories and finishes since his departure from the UFC two years ago – and last night, turned in a second round guillotine choke win over Koji Takeda – choking his opponent unconscious, before planting a kiss on his head from guard. Spike Carlyle, a native […]

Spike Carlyle

Spike Carlyle has enjoyed a stunning run of five consecutive victories and finishes since his departure from the UFC two years ago – and last night, turned in a second round guillotine choke win over Koji Takeda – choking his opponent unconscious, before planting a kiss on his head from guard.

Spike Carlyle, a native of San Diego, California – featured three-times under the banner of the UFC in 2020, managing to amass a 1-2 promotional record.

Debuting in February of that year against Aalon Cruz, Spike Carlyle would land a first round knockout win, before dropping a unanimous judging loss to Billy Quarantillo – and then a November decision blemish against Bill Algeo.

In the time since his departure, Carlyle, a renowned finisher, has competed under the notable banners of LFA, Cage Warriors, Bellator MMA – and last night – landing in Japan for Rizin FF 35, tackling Takeda. 

Riding a run of four wins over Batsumberel Dagvadorj, Gil Guardado, J.J. Ambrose, and Dan Moret into the Chofu event, Carlyle secured a five fight winning run for the second time in his professional career – in quite impressive fashion. 

Last night’s submission win for Spike Carlyle came as his seventh professionally

Featuring on the preliminary card of the event at the Musashino Forest Sport Plaza, Carlyle – from guard, wrapped a guillotine on the aforenoted, Takeya – eventually choking him unconscious, and then kissing his fallen opponent on the head. 

Last night’s card featured a championship tripleheader to boot – with super atomweight, Seika Izawa defeating champion, Ayaka Hamasaki with a unanimous decision win to land the title.

In the night’s co-main event, featherweight champion, Juntaro Ushiku successfully defended his title with a unanimous decision win over Yutaka Saito.

Rounding out the promotion’s return, Brazilian grappling sensation, Roberto de Souza – otherwise known as Roberto Satoshi avenged a knockout loss to Johnny Case – stopping the lightweight title challenger with a spectacular opening round armbar – improving to 14-1 in the process. 

Gabi Garcia Calls Out Kayla Harrison: ‘Why Not Fight Me?’

Gabi GarciaGabi Garcia has called out PFL star and world Judo champion Kayla Harrison, claiming that she absolutely wants to fight her. Garcia, who competes as a heavyweight, claimed in an interview with AG Fight that she does indeed want to fight Harrison, as Harrison has been speaking a lot about Garcia on the internet. Garcia […]

Gabi Garcia

Gabi Garcia has called out PFL star and world Judo champion Kayla Harrison, claiming that she absolutely wants to fight her.

Garcia, who competes as a heavyweight, claimed in an interview with AG Fight that she does indeed want to fight Harrison, as Harrison has been speaking a lot about Garcia on the internet. Garcia claims she is now stepping up to the plate, but that Harrison is now attempting to avoid her instead.

“Kayla (Harrison) came on the internet to talk shit, Julia Budd (ex-Bellator champion) too. I accepted all these fights, but she (Kayla) always said that I was an easy fight. That I had no technique to fight her. But the Gabi of yesteryear is not the same as Gabi (today). Then I came to my manager and said: ‘Look, she is challenging me, I want to fight with her. What does she want to fight with me? ‘ Then it starts: ‘I fight in any category, I fight open weight’. I said: ‘No, it will arrive on time and it will not be like this’. Then: ‘No, I want a test at Gabi, I want this, I want that’. All right then! Let’s go! Do you want to test me all the time? What you want? Do you want me to hit how much weight? I talked to my doctor, (to find out) what the minimum weight I could get. Everything she was asking for. (But) in reality, she doesn’t want to fight ”,

“So, she comes to say, ‘I’m number one.’ You are the number one of the PFL, who put you in (good) fights and made an event for you, as Rizin also put up a good fight for me,” Gabi Garcia added. “Only she does not come to say that she is number one, because there is Amanda (Nunes), well, there is Cris (Cyborg). She is far from being … So if I am a very easy fight, why not fight me? Her last opponent seems to have 11 losses. I come from seven victories. So then. Kayla, I want to fight you. First time I challenge someone. She challenged me, we have been talking for two years now, and I say: ‘What do you want to be able to fight with me? Do you want the test, the (anti) doping? Do you want me to hit the weight? What you want?’. Because (just) challenging me is easy. So, that’s my goal. I want to fight with her. I don’t know when that will happen,

Ultimately though, there are a lot of issues to this fight ever even happening. The main issue is, of course, the weight disparity between Garcia and Harrison. Harrison, of course, competes in the 155lb division in the PFL, whilst, as outlined, Garcia competes in RIZIN as a heavyweight. Even a catchweight fight would most likely be either too much weight for Harrison to move up to and too much weight for Garcia to move down. Garcia naturally carries a massive frame anyway, so there is a limit to how much weight she could cut. Harrison would also lose a lot of her natural explosiveness and speed moving up too much weight either.

This does not even consider the fact that the two women compete in two different promotions. Harrison competes in the U.S. based PFL, whilst Garcia competes in Japan with RIZIN. Under normal circumstances, the logistics of this fight would have been difficult, but even more so now with COVID-19 remaining at large globally, it is extremely unlikely that this fight would happen any time soon.

Do you want to see Gabi Garcia vs. Kayla Harrison?

Gabi Garcia Calls Out Kayla Harrison: ‘Why Not Fight Me?’

Gabi GarciaGabi Garcia has called out PFL star and world Judo champion Kayla Harrison, claiming that she absolutely wants to fight her. Garcia, who competes as a heavyweight, claimed in an interview with AG Fight that she does indeed want to fight Harrison, as Harrison has been speaking a lot about Garcia on the internet. Garcia […]

Gabi Garcia

Gabi Garcia has called out PFL star and world Judo champion Kayla Harrison, claiming that she absolutely wants to fight her.

Garcia, who competes as a heavyweight, claimed in an interview with AG Fight that she does indeed want to fight Harrison, as Harrison has been speaking a lot about Garcia on the internet. Garcia claims she is now stepping up to the plate, but that Harrison is now attempting to avoid her instead.

“Kayla (Harrison) came on the internet to talk shit, Julia Budd (ex-Bellator champion) too. I accepted all these fights, but she (Kayla) always said that I was an easy fight. That I had no technique to fight her. But the Gabi of yesteryear is not the same as Gabi (today). Then I came to my manager and said: ‘Look, she is challenging me, I want to fight with her. What does she want to fight with me? ‘ Then it starts: ‘I fight in any category, I fight open weight’. I said: ‘No, it will arrive on time and it will not be like this’. Then: ‘No, I want a test at Gabi, I want this, I want that’. All right then! Let’s go! Do you want to test me all the time? What you want? Do you want me to hit how much weight? I talked to my doctor, (to find out) what the minimum weight I could get. Everything she was asking for. (But) in reality, she doesn’t want to fight ”,

“So, she comes to say, ‘I’m number one.’ You are the number one of the PFL, who put you in (good) fights and made an event for you, as Rizin also put up a good fight for me,” Gabi Garcia added. “Only she does not come to say that she is number one, because there is Amanda (Nunes), well, there is Cris (Cyborg). She is far from being … So if I am a very easy fight, why not fight me? Her last opponent seems to have 11 losses. I come from seven victories. So then. Kayla, I want to fight you. First time I challenge someone. She challenged me, we have been talking for two years now, and I say: ‘What do you want to be able to fight with me? Do you want the test, the (anti) doping? Do you want me to hit the weight? What you want?’. Because (just) challenging me is easy. So, that’s my goal. I want to fight with her. I don’t know when that will happen,

Ultimately though, there are a lot of issues to this fight ever even happening. The main issue is, of course, the weight disparity between Garcia and Harrison. Harrison, of course, competes in the 155lb division in the PFL, whilst, as outlined, Garcia competes in RIZIN as a heavyweight. Even a catchweight fight would most likely be either too much weight for Harrison to move up to and too much weight for Garcia to move down. Garcia naturally carries a massive frame anyway, so there is a limit to how much weight she could cut. Harrison would also lose a lot of her natural explosiveness and speed moving up too much weight either.

This does not even consider the fact that the two women compete in two different promotions. Harrison competes in the U.S. based PFL, whilst Garcia competes in Japan with RIZIN. Under normal circumstances, the logistics of this fight would have been difficult, but even more so now with COVID-19 remaining at large globally, it is extremely unlikely that this fight would happen any time soon.

Do you want to see Gabi Garcia vs. Kayla Harrison?

Kyoji Horiguchi Stops Kai Asakura In RIZIN FF 26 Rematch

HoriguchiRedemption for bantamweight standout, Kyoji ‘The Typhoon’ Horiguchi. Returning from a debilitating knee injury which forced him to vacant his Bellator MMA bantamweight crown, the 30-year-old headlined RIZIN FF 26 this morning in Saitama, Japan — stopping two-time foe, Kai Asakura to reclaim the promotion’s world championship. Horiguchi, a former UFC flyweight title challenger suffered […]

Horiguchi

Redemption for bantamweight standout, Kyoji ‘The Typhoon’ Horiguchi. Returning from a debilitating knee injury which forced him to vacant his Bellator MMA bantamweight crown, the 30-year-old headlined RIZIN FF 26 this morning in Saitama, Japan — stopping two-time foe, Kai Asakura to reclaim the promotion’s world championship.

Horiguchi, a former UFC flyweight title challenger suffered a nasty knee injury in October of last year, ultimately forcing him to vacate the Bellator title he lifted via a unanimous decision win over Darrion ‘The Wolf’ Caldwell, the following month.

Unbeaten in his next thirteen outings since dropping a buzzer-beating armbar loss to ONE Championship tournament victor, Demetrious ‘Mighty Mouse’ Johnson, Horiguchi battled with the above mentioned, Asakura in a non-title matchup, dropping a stunning first-round knockout defeat. 

Sixteen months later, Horiguchi returned to action against two-time foe, Asakura, and after expertly finding his mark with calf kicks over and over again in the opening exchanges, Horiguchi countered a jumping knee from his compatriot to stun and subsequently drop him with a barrage before continued ground-and-pound strikes before the three-minute mark ended Asakura’s reign. 

Rounding off a sixteen fight card, the promotion also fielded former PRIDE FC great, Takanori Gomi who claimed a majority decision win over Koji Tanaka. In a kickboxing bout, renowned striker, Tenshin Nasukawa managed to grab a unanimous judging victory over Kumandoi Petcharoenvit. Opening the card, Ayaka Hamasaki was crowned the super atomweight champion via a stunning head-scissors submission victory over Miyuu Yamamoto in a vacant title matchup. 

With Horiguchi’s win, the American Top Team trainee now improves to 29-3 professionally, adding Asakura to a staggering list of talent already featured on his win column. Prior to this morning’s win, Horiguchi had twice bested the above mentioned, Caldwell, as well as grabbing victories over Ben Nyugen, Hiromasa Ougikubo (x2), Ian McCall, Manel Kape, Ali Baugautinov, Neil Seery, and Louis Gaudinot to name a few. 

Speculation has already begun to mount as to what’s next for Horiguchi, with a bantamweight title challenge against recently minted Bellator best, Juan Archuleta already floated, as well as a potential return to the UFC to tackle either flyweight champion, Deiveson Figueiredo, or a bantamweight siege against Petr Yan. 

RIZIN Bantamweight Champ Kai Asakura Talks Kyoji Horiguchi & Bellator Title

This year has no doubt been a test for everyone worldwide, but thankfully, for MMA fans, RIZIN FF will still send the year off with one of their epic New Year’s Eve shows. Headlining RIZIN 26 is a bantamweight title clash that sees defending champion Kai Asakura taking on Kyoji Horiguchi. This fight will be […]

This year has no doubt been a test for everyone worldwide, but thankfully, for MMA fans, RIZIN FF will still send the year off with one of their epic New Year’s Eve shows.

Headlining RIZIN 26 is a bantamweight title clash that sees defending champion Kai Asakura taking on Kyoji Horiguchi. This fight will be the second meeting between the pair after Asakura defeated Horiguchi, who was the then Bellator and Rizin FF champion, in the opening round of their non-title clash at RIZIN 18.

The 27-year-old Asakura is one of RIZIN’s biggest stars and is coming into this fight on the back of two first round stoppage wins. He is confident that his skills have improved immensely since he and Horiguchi last fought back in August of 2019.

“I’ve put on some muscle, so adjusting my weight cut has been a challenge, but I think I have it figured out. Everything about me has gotten better, and I want to show that in my fight. I will make a statement in this fight,” Asakura said, speaking to media ahead of his fight.

Since his loss to Asakura, Horiguchi has not fought. This is mostly due to him undergoing surgery on his right knee. The recovery time took longer than expected, and it was during this enforced layoff that he decided to vacate both his Bellator and RIZIN championships.

“I started sparring and training fully in July. I feel like I am close to 100%. I’ve been adding new stuff to my original style during this period. I never think about the fight until right before the fight, so things are as usual. My absence from the ring really doesn’t affect me,” Horiguchi said.

Horiguchi went on to say that once he reclaims the RIZIN bantamweight title, he will set his sights on recapturing the Bellator strap. However, Asakura feels that he will have the answer to whatever questions his 30-year-old opponent poses when they meet.

“I’m not worried if Horiguchi is back 100%,” Asakura said.

“He can’t change his style that easily. I know what he’s capable of doing, I can adjust to any changes that he may bring to the fight. I think this fight will be seen by many top fighters, so this is a great opportunity for me to show what I can do.”

One fighter who should be watching tonight’s matchup is Bellator’s current bantamweight champion, Juan Archuleta. Asakura, like Horiguchi, has designs on competing for the Bellator strap.

“I plan to defend my belt against Horiguchi and then go after the Bellator belt,” Asakura exclaimed.

For MMA fans the Asakura-Horiguchi rematch is shaping up to be the perfect way to see out what has been the most challenging year in the sports history.

RIZIN 26 will be held on December 31st at the Saitama Super Arena. The event will stream internationally with English commentary by Frank Trigg and Joe Ferraro from the following link.