Kron vs. Crusher and Krazy Horse rematch for RIZIN NYE event

RIZIN FF announced today that undefeated Kron Gracie will fight UFC veteran Tatsuya ‘Crusher’ Kawajiri at featherweight, as well as a rematch between Charles ‘Krazy Horse’ Bennett and Minoru Kimura. The rematch will take place at a catchweight of 147.7. Both fights will take place on RIZIN’s card on New Year’s Eve, Saturday, Dec. 31 at Saitama Super Arena in Tokyo.

RIZIN FF Chairman Nobuyuki Sakakibara also stated that quarterfinal matchups for the remaining fighters in the open weight tournament will be announced next week, followed by weekly announcements of new fights for both the December 29 and December 31 fight cards that comprise the RIZIN FF New Year’s extravaganza.

Fighting out of Los Angeles, California, 28-year-old Kron, the son of legendary master Rickson and grandson of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu co-founder Helio, is coming off a first-round submission of K-1 and DREAM veteran Hideo Tokoro at the RIZIN FF card on September 25. A longtime Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu competitor and black belt, as well as a former ADCC Submission Wrestling Championships tournament winner, Gracie has yet to be pushed past the first round of battle in any of his MMA fights.

Kawajiri of Inashiki, Ibaraki, Japan is a 38-year-old, established star and former Shooto lightweight world champion whose signing to a promotional agreement with RIZIN FF was announced last week, shortly after he parted ways with his previous promoter, the UFC.

The second meeting between Bennett of Ocala, Florida, and Kimura of Japan via Curitiba, Brazil will occur just three months after the two faced off in the RIZIN FF ring where Bennett scored a thunderous, highlight reel knockout on Kimura in a mere seven seconds with a flying right hand to the temple, followed by a barrage of finishing punches to the downed Kimura.

A 2012 Japan super lightweight kickboxing champion, the 23-year-old Kimura who was born in Curitiba, but relocated to Japan at age three, has been ranked as high as number two in the world in kickboxing’s featherweight division.

Last week, RIZIN FF announced the signing of heavyweight superstar Shane Carwin who will make his federation debut as a wild card entrant in the open weight tournament that kicked off on September 25, and continues on December 29.

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