Rizin recently held a press conference in Tokyo to announce additional matchups for Super Rizin and Shonan Beauty Clinic presents Rizin FF 38 on September 25.
At the press conference, CEO Nobuyuki Sakakibara, Seika Izawa, Ayaka Hamasaki, Siu Park, Hiromasa Ogikubo, Kintaro, Juri Ohara, Nadaka Yoshinari, Kota Miura and Shoma Shibisai were on stage. Kyoji Horiguchi attended the conference remotely from Florida.
In addition to the bouts announced at the Hawaii presser last week, CEO Sakakibara officially announced two bouts for the second round of the super atomweight GP, as well as Miura vs. Bunchuai Phonsungnoen.
The winners of the first round of the super atomweight grand prix setup exciting matchups – Seika Izawa vs. Rena Kubota and Ayaka Hamasaki vs. Park Si Woo – they had never faced each other before, but it was announced that Kubota would be withdrawing from the tournament due to an orbital bone injury. She will be out of action for two months.
Following Kubota’s withdrawal, Izawa’s opponent was decided to be Anastasia Sveckiska, who put up a spirited performance against Kubota in the first round of the tournament. A win for Izawa would set her up for a rematch against the winner of Park vs. Hamasaki. Both of the semifinalists across from Izawa are hungry for revenge, but Izawa must hold up her end as champion and favorite to win it all for either of those matchups to occur.
Bantamweight champion Horiguchi’s first Rizin bout in nearly 2 years since he defeated Kai Asakura at Rizin FF 26 sees him take on former Pancrase bantamweight title challenger Kintaro. Surprisingly, he has lost his last two bouts and is looking to get back to winning ways in the Rizin ring. Despite Horiguchi being a heavy favorite, Kintaro always brings the fight to his opponents, win or lose.
Ougikubo, whose match with Kim Soo Chul had already been announced, attended the press conference for the first time after the card was announced. When he was asked to comment, he said, “Kim Soo Chul has won seven straight games against Japanese fighters, so I want to win and show the strength of the Japanese fighters. Can Ougikubo, who won the bantamweight Japanese grand prix on New Year’s Eve last year, show the strength of the Japanese as declared against Kim, the ROAD FC champion in Korea?
Ohara is riding the longest win streak of his career at nine wins, with three of them coming in the Rizin ring, as well as defending his DEEP lightweight title. He will face Luis Gustavo. In what promises to be a barn burner matchup between two strikers, Ohara is eyeing up Rizin’s lightweight title. Can the DEEP champion follow in Juntaro Ushiku‘s footsteps and unify the Rizin and DEEP titles?
The Rizin FF 38 and Super Rizin lineups currently include:
RIZIN FF 38
- Seika Izawa vs Anastasia Svetkivska
- Si Woo Park vs Ayaka Hamasaki
- Kyoji Horiguchi vs. Kintaro
- Hiromasa Ougikubo vs. Kim Soo Chul
- Kyohei Hagiwara vs. Chihiro Suzuki
- Juri Ohara vs. Luis Gustavo
- Shibisai Shoma vs. Callyu Gibrainn
SUPER RIZIN
- Floyd Mayweather vs. Mikuru Asakura (boxing exhibition)
- Nadaka Yoshinari vs. Bandasak So Trakunpet
- Kota Miura vs Bunchuai Phonsungnoen (special rules match)
