Six championship fights at Rizin’s New Year’s Eve event

Six championship fights will take place at Rizin’s New Year’s Eve gala. On December 31, Ryan Bader will make his debut in the Japanese organization.

Japan’s Rizin federation has prepared quite a treat for MMA fans. The traditional New Year’s Eve gala will feature, as many as six championship-ranked fights, and the juxtapositions are truly electrifying. President Nobuyuki Sakakibara made sure that fans who want to close the year with a big MMA event will not complain about a lack of excitement.

Razhabali Shaidullaev and Mikuru Asakura will face each other in a clash for the Rizin featherweight division championship belt. The favorite of the duel will be the undefeated Kyrgyz, however, the older of the Asakura brothers will have the advantage of physical conditions on his side.

Roberto Satoshi will face another defense of his lightweight division championship belt. The Brazilian’s opponent will be Shunta Nomura, who has a string of five straight wins. The champion also boasts an identical streak, however, it’s worth mentioning that the ground-fighting wizard is already 36 years old, and Nomura in his last appearance defeating Patricky Pitbull proved that he can handle veterans.

Seika Izawa and Rena Kubota will face each other in a fight for the atomic division belt. The big favorite in this matchup is Izawa, who is the more versatile fighter. Naoki Inoue will defend his cock category belt in a clash with Danny Sabatello, famous for his trash talk.

Alexander Soldatkin and Ryan Bader were scheduled to meet in a bout for the vacant Rizin belt in the royal weight class. The Russian won the Grand Prix of the heavyweight division, and a win over Mark Samoytuk in the finals gave him a pass to clash with the former Bellator double champion. Unfortunately, the American suffered an injury and announced that he would not be able to fight in the gala. Rizin is working on a replacement.

In the last of the championship bouts, veterans of the Japanese MMA scene Hiromasa Ougikubo and Yuki Motoya will fight for the vacant belt of the flyweight division. The fighters are 38 and 36 years old, respectively, so they are approaching retirement.