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RIZIN 22: Yachi vs. de Souza – Live Results, Recaps and Highlights
RIZIN Fighting Federation is back! And they’re returning in style with back to back nights of action. The first of the two events will be RIZIN 22 live from Yokohama, Japan in the Pia Arena.
In the evening’s main event, we’ll see two of the promotion’s most entertaining lightweights clash. Yusuke Yachi is back in the spotlight looking to get back on a winning streak by handing Roberto “Satoshi” de Souza his second career loss.
Directly before that, we’ll get two important bouts for the super atomweight division. Former champion Ayaka Hamasaki fights for the first time since dropping her title on New Year’s Eve to Seo Hee Ham. Standing in her way will be another veteran and top fighter in the division, Tomo Maesawa.
Also returning is the young superstar, Kanna Asakura.
Asakura will look to snap 19-year old Mizuki Furuse’s four-fight winning streak as she debuts in RIZIN with the hopes to launch herself into the title mix with a big upset win.
MyMMANews has you covered with all of the fight summaries and results as they happen.
RIZIN 22 results below:
Bantamweight – 135lbs: Erson Yamamoto vs. Kenji Kato
Round 1
Yamamoto starts out with a pair of leg kicks before quickly getting dropped with a big straight left. He recovers to get an over-under position in the clinch and takedown Kato. Kato stands back up and stuns Yamamoto with short violent elbows. Yamamoto staggers and eats some heavy punches but survives to lead to him getting another takedown. Yamamoto works his way into mount but loses it and finds himself in half guard where he drops a heavy elbow to the body before going to the head. The referee adjusted the fighters before Kato was able to get his opponent up off of him. A wild left hand from Kato catches Yamamoto again that hurts him. A big right connects and closes the show for Kato.
https://twitter.com/FTBeard1/status/1292334130680627200
Result: Kenji Kato def. Erson Yamamoto via first-round knockout (punch)
Featherweight – 145lbs: Rikuto Shirakawa vs. Kyohei Hagiwara
Round 1
The two start out patiently trying to find the range of the other. Hagiwara’s kicks landing the most effective early. That’s until Shirakawa lands a nice looping left hand that snaps back his opponent’s head. To counter, both swing wildly but neither connects all too cleanly. Shirakawa gets underhooks on Hagiwara and pushes him into the corner. Hagiwara lands some nice elbows before the referee separates them. Hagiwara goes for a head kick that’s blocked. He finds himself on his back when attempting a rolling thunder kick before round one concludes.
Round 2
Hagiwara lands a nice overhand right and a flying knee in succession. Shirakawa remained unphased and used the closing of the distance to take his foe down in the corner of the ring. Shirakawa works for position while Hagiwara lands elbow strikes to the limbs. Still being held as he works his way to his feet in the corner, Hagiwara drops some heavy foot stomps. The referee breaks them up and Hagiwara immediately lands two big leg kicks. A spinning back kick to the body lands for him and then another good leg kick. He attempts yet another rolling thunder kick at this round’s end and connects with a good up kick.
Round 3
Hagiwara instantly lands a leg kick that knocks Shirakawa off his feet. He stands and the two wildly begin throwing punches aplenty. Hagiwara starts to land his jab while Shirakawa attacks the body. Shirakawa goes high with a right hand that finds a home. Another takedown attempt from Shirakawa puts the pair back in the corner. The referee quickly separated the two. Hagiwara attempts another flying knee to no avail but his jab remained a consistent weapon. With Shirakawa’s nose bloodied he was visibly getting tired. Hagiwara started to land hard shots from all angles. Finding a moment to clinch, Shirakawa snatched it up but it didn’t last. He absorbed a big three-punch combo and the punishment was enough for the referee to stop it before the fight ended.
https://twitter.com/GIFsZP/status/1292340938602405890
Result: Kyohei Hagiwara def. Rikuto Shirakawa via third-round TKO (punches)
Featherweight: Tetsuya Seki vs. Kouya Kanda
Round 1
Kanda opens the action with a head kick and goes right into a takedown which he gets successfully. He attacks with knees to the head on the ground but finds himself in guard as a result. Transitioning to half. Kanda starts trapping Seki’s right arm behind his back but Seki brilliantly finds his way up in the momentum counter of Kanda trying to get a better position. Now standing and clinching, the two trade elbows in tight but still jockey for position. Seki attempts a knee on the break. As he aims for a big right straight when at distance, Kanda attacked with a double leg which he lands. Kanda lands minimal ground and pound as the bell sounds.
Round 2
Seki goes for head kick early this time that misses the mark leading to him eating a two punch combo. In a scramble, Seki gets to the back and locks in a deep rear-naked choke but the two fall out of the ropes and the position is lost. Back to the feet and Kanda starts to find more success with a knee. Seki continued pressing forward and landed some good elbows and punches in close. Kanda was gassing and Seki poured the pressure on with punches in the phone booth. It was too much as Kanda crumbled after taking a plethora of punches.
https://twitter.com/streetfitebncho/status/1292352151394627584
https://twitter.com/FTBeard1/status/1292346295932182528?s=20
Result: Tetsuya Seki def. Kouya Kanda via second-round TKO (punches)
Kickboxing: Catchweight – 112lbs: Nadaka Yoshinari vs. Yuushin
Round 1
Kicks begin to fly almost exclusively within the first thirty seconds. High, low, to the body. Kicks on kicks on kicks. Yuushin threw out a superman punch that missed and it was right back to kicking. When in close, Yoshinari literally started to just toss his opponent to the ground repeatedly. After about four or five takedowns, Yoshinari ran in with a flying knee in the corner. It missed, the two created space and two more tosses came for Yoshinari. He landed a nice elbow in a brief clinching before sticking Yuushin with a stiff straight punch and hitting three more trips or tosses.
Round 2
Head kicks opened the round for each fighter, Yuushin’s coming consecutively. None connecting cleanly. In close, each landed knees to the body. Yuushin continuously found himself on the ground. It was starting to get comical at this point. Yoshinari pressured Yuushin after a heavy toss and stunned him with punches and elbows to get a knockdown. He survived only to see Yoshinari continue his attack. Yoshinari landed nasty elbows in tight and followed it up with a big overhand right to counter a flying knee. One more stiff elbow dropped Yuushin to his knees and that was enough to get the stoppage for Yoshinari.
https://twitter.com/FTBeard1/status/1292351162780246016?s=20
Results: Nadaka Yoshinari def. Yuushin via second-round TKO (elbow)
Kickboxing: Flyweight – 125lbs: Rui Ebata vs. Seiki Ueyama
Round 1
Ebata strikes early with a good body kick before delivering a head kick on the back of the neck to his opponent. Ueyama attacks low with kicks but gets his head snapped back by a stiff straight. A big left hook from Ueyama connects perfectly. His kicking offense follows as he throws to the inside and outside of Ebata’s lead leg. Starting to mix it up high with punches, Ebata fired back late with a nice three-strike combo finalized with a kick.
https://twitter.com/MikeLovesTacosX/status/1292360663160037376
Round 2
Ueyama comes out fast in the middle round starting his attack with the leg kicks followed by a flurry of punches. None of which really get through. Ebata starts to work the body nicely with his kicks. Ueyama rips a right hand to the body then is treated to back to back body kicks. The damage is visible and nasty on his ribs. Ueyama starts to find a home for his right hand but Ebata kept landing punches of his own in response. A head kick in Ebata’s favor slips through Ueyama’s guard.
Round 3
Within the first 45 seconds of the round, Ebata puts Ueyama down with a short and quick flurry. He recovers fast and the two start trading blows. Ebata snuck that body kick back into the mix but they were both interested in exchanging leather in the final frame. Unfortunately, a checking of cuts for each fighter after a head clash halted the pace with 63 seconds left in the fight. The doctors allowed the action to continue, the fans applauded. The two picked up right where they left off with Ueyama starting the exchanges with hook after hook. He threw in two head kicks for good measure and ended up eating a front kick for his efforts. With Ebata whiffing, Ueyama snuck in a big straight through his foe’s defense. The bell sounds as both swings for the fences.
https://twitter.com/MikeLovesTacosX/status/1292362352248139778
Result: Rui Ebata def. Seiki Ueyama via unanimous decision
Bantamweight: Naoki Inoue vs. Shooto Watanabe
Round 1
Watanabe starts the fight with a lazy flying knee that puts him on his butt. In offensive defense, he shoots for a low single thus forcing Inoue into the corner looking to drag him down. The referee breaks them apart after a quick period. Watanabe goes right back to looking for the takedown but Inoue defends and circles to Watanabe’s back and sinks in a rear-naked choke.
https://twitter.com/Barrelelapierna/status/1292372075391397888
Results: Naoki Inoue def. Shooto Watanabe via first-round submission (rear-naked choke)
Super atomweight – 108lbs: Kanna Asakura vs. Mizuki Furuse
Round 1
Both fighters look for right straights as Furuse follows the trading with a sloppy double leg attempt that’s sprawled on by Asakura. From there, Asakura works her way around to Furuse’s back and drops heavy ground and pound punches to get the finish.
https://twitter.com/MikeLovesTacosX/status/1292373348115255296
Result: Kanna Asakura def. Mizuki Furuse via first-round TKO (punches)
Strawweight – 115lbs: Ayaka Hamasaki vs. Tomo Maesawa
Round 1
The action started fast and furiously as Maesawa landed a good left and Hamasaki fired back with hard punches that put Maesawa down briefly. Hamasaki slowed her attack momentarily only to unleash in big spurts. Her right hand looking like a magnet to Maesawa’s head. Hamasaki started to jab and throw single straight lefts while Maesawa was hoping to find a big looping shot. Maesawa landed a land kick and Hamasaki switched stances seemingly only to show that she could fight from each stance. A stiff right jab sat Maesawa down but she sprung up quickly once again. A perfect knee tap push takedown from Hamasaki got Maesawa to the mat where she instantly started seeking an americana. Maesawa defended well enough to manage to escape the round.
Round 2
Hamasaki put the pressure on early but Maesawa was able to keep her off momentarily until the same knee tap push takedown was landed. Working from half guard, Hamasaki tried to step into full mount but got over to north-south instead and crank a kimura from there. Therefore forcing the tap.
https://twitter.com/inxxane/status/1292378908457934850
Result: Ayaka Hamasaki def. Tomo Maesawa via second-round submission (kimura)
Lightweight – 155lbs: Yusuke Yachi vs. Roberto “Satoshi” de Souza
Round 1
Yachi strikes first with a nice pair of oblique kicks. de Souza searches with two overhand rights. A third finding its mark with a head kick behind it. The BJJ ace then swarmed for the takedown and got it as Yachi was now under a lethal mount absorbing punches galore. Threats of chokes were tossed in the mix but the big punches were what did Yachi in early.
https://twitter.com/MikeLovesTacosX/status/1292384668038377477
Result: Roberto de Souza def. Yusuke Yachi via first-round TKO (punches)
