TOKYO – RIZIN CEO Nobuyuki Sakakibara recently held a press conference and announced updates about RIZIN 37 – the promotion’s eight event of the year.
Six of Sherdog’s top-10 atomweights will compete against one another to determine once again who is the world’s finest at 108 pounds, along with a handsome prize of ¥7 million (approx. $50,350) for first place and ¥3 million (approx. $21,578) for second place. CEO Sakakibara stated that he “is proud to have the highest level in the world in this division” and announced some changes to the card.
“Rikuto Shirakawa tore his bicep and is out,” Sakakibara said. “Sora Yamamoto will step in to face Vugar Karamov. Sora wasn’t happy with his past performance in Okinawa and wanted a fight to redeem himself.”
The opening round will be held on July 31, semifinals in September, finals on New Year’s Eve. Further elaborating on the schedule, Sakakibara stated “The semifinals will take place at the end of September. Finals on NYE. We will not hold two fights in one fight this time. The way of semifinals matchups are not determined yet.”
Rena Kubota vs. Anastasiya Svetkivska
Rena Kubota (12-4 MMA, 11-3 RIZIN FF) is the four-time Shoot Boxing Girls S-Cup Champion, 2017 RIZIN super atomweight grand prix finalist and carries a 35-5-1 (11 KOs) combined kickboxing and shoot-boxing record. The 14-fight RIZIN veteran carries a 11-3 record under Japan’s premier banner, with nine stoppages and is 5-1 in her last six bouts. She lost a competitive back-and-forth decision to fellow participant, Si Woo Park in her last outing at RIZIN.33.
Anastasiya Svetkivska (2-0 MMA, 0-0 RIZIN FF) is the 2019 IMMAF World Championships gold medalist, representing her native Ukraine. She put together an amatuer record of 8-1, including wins over the then 8-0 Colleen Augustin of Malaysia, and former HEX strawweight champion Olivia Ukmar of Australia. Since turning pro just eights months ago, she has scored two first-round stoppage wins in Ukraine. Her strong amateur pedigree coupled with her lightning fast start as a pro should be sure to turn heads in her RIZIN debut.
Kanna Asakura vs. Si Woo Park
Kanna Asakura (19-6 MMA , 10-5 RIZIN FF) is the 2017 super atomweight grand prix winner and two-time title challenger. Both of her title attempts came against two-time champion, Ayaka Hamasaki, with the second being an all-time classic battle. Now, after taking home a unanimous decision victory over Shooto atomweight champion Sarami Takamo at RIZIN 35 three months ago, she has her sights set on claiming her second grand prix championship.
Si Woo Park (7-4 MMA, 1-0 RIZIN FF) is the 2021 DEEP atomweight grand prix semifinalist. After starting her career 0-2, she put together a five-fight win streak, notably defeating former DEEP JEWELS strawweight champion Emi Tomimatsu and DEEP JEWELS microweight champion and atomweight grand prix champion Saori Oshima. Despite coming up short in a rematch against recent RIZIN debutant Oshima in the aforementioned grand prix, she remains a top contender in the division, only losing to Oshima and Seika Izawa in her last seven bouts. She also challenged Panchan Rina in a kickboxing match at REBELS 61 in June 2019, dropping a unanimous decision in her sole kickboxing match. She won her RIZIN debut at RIZIN 33 with a decision victory over Rena Kubota.
Ayaka Hamasaki vs. Jessica Aguilar
Two-time super atomweight champion Ayaka Hamasaki (23-5 MMA, 9-3 RIZIN FF) is coming off of back-to-back losses for the first time in her career. Scoring 4 straight wins following her split-decision loss to Seo Hee Ham at RIZIN 20, reclaiming her title and making one defense, her pair of matches against Seika Izawa potentially signaled a changing of the guard at 49 kilograms. However, she has not wasted any time and jumps straight back into the deep end of the division, taking on former WSOF strawweight champion and five-fight UFC veteran Jessica Aguilar.
Aguilar (20-9 MMA, 0-0 RIZIN FF), who holds two wins over JMMA legend and Hamasaki’s mentor Megumi Fujii as well as a win over current UFC strawweight champion Carla Esparza, returns to Japan for just the second time in her career – last appearing at Vale Tudo Japan 3rd in 2013. Despite being in the twilight of her 16-year career, she looks to make a glorious run for another major world title.
Seika Izawa vs. Laura Fontoura
RIZIN Super Atomweight Champion Seika Izawa (6-0 MMA, 2-0 RIZIN FF) has enjoyed a meteoric rise. At just 4-0, she finished one of the greatest pound-for-pound female fighters ever in two-time champion Ayaka Hamasaki in her debut at RIZIN 33. She would go on to repeat this feat just four months later at RIZIN 35, officially laying claim to the belt after their first fight being a non-title affair. Now, she takes on international competition for just the second time in her young career.
Laura Fontoura (7-0 MMA, 0-0 RIZIN FF) is the PAWFC strawweight champion, winning the title this past January against RIZIN alum Andy Nguyen by fourth-round armbar. With a stellar 7-0 record that has seen her score multiple sub-minute finishes, the 21-year-old Brazilian will look to shake up RIZIN’s super atomweight division against the newly crowned queen.
Doors for RIZIN 37 are expected to open at 12:30 p.m. JST local time with the opening ceremony at 2 p.m. on July 31 at the Saitama Super Arena.
The complete RIZIN 37 lineup includes:
- Rena Kubota vs. Anastasia Svetkivska – super atomweight grand prix opening round
- Kanna Asakura vs. Si Woo Park – super atomweight grand prix opening round
- Ayaka Hamasaki vs. Jessica Aguilar – super atomweight grand prix opening round
- Seika Izawa vs. Laura Fontoura – super atomweight grand prix opening round
- Hideki Sekine vs. Tsuyoshi Sudario
- Johnny Case vs. Koji Takeda
- Vugar Karamov vs. Sora Yamamoto
- Ulka Sasaki vs. Yuki Nakahara
- Kota Miura vs. Felipe Masoni
- Yushi vs. Haruki
- Naoki Inoue vs. Kenta Takizawa
- Yuki Motoya vs. Shinobu Ota
- Hideo Tokoro vs Makoto Takahashi
- Marcos Souza vs. Daichi Abe
- Ryusei Kumagai vs. Kaishi (kickboxing)
