PhotoCred: RIZIN
RIZIN 23: Asakura vs. Ogikubo – Live Results, Recaps, and Highlights
Night two of RIZIN’s doubleheader event return is RIZIN 23. And by the end of the show, a new bantamweight champion will have been crowned.
Last night, we got one hell of a return to action for RIZIN FF in the shape of RIZIN 22. Among the nine fights, only one went the full distance needing the judges. Thus leaving the fans in attendance satisfied with six knockouts and two submissions.
Closing out the back to back night of events will be the biggest fight of the weekend for the promotion. That, of course, being none other than the vacant bantamweight title tilt.
At the end of 2019, Manel Kape stood tall after upsetting the upsetter, Kai Asakura to claim the gold after Kyoji Horiguchi found himself sidelined by injury. Now, Kape has since moved on to the UFC. Therefore giving Asakura another crack at the belt as he takes on an experienced veteran in Hiromasa Ogikubo.
MyMMANews has you covered with all of the fight summaries and results as they happen.
RIZIN 23 results below:
Kickboxing: Catchweight – 160lbs: Shintaro Matsukura vs. Koji Mori
Round 1
Mori lands an overhand left early before throwing two punch combos with Matsukura looking to land kicks low and to the body. Mori mixed some of his own in as well but quickly found himself face down as Matsukura connected with big punches in succession. Surviving and getting up briefly, it didn’t matter as Matsukura went for the kill and got it with a big left hook followed by a right. A quick fight and a violent start to the event.
https://twitter.com/MikeLovesTacosX/status/1292694788488257538
Result: Shintaro Matsukura def. Koji Mori via first-round knockout (punches)
Catchweight – 128lbs: Yusaku Nakamura vs. Tatsuki Saomoto
Round 1
Nakamura hid a big right hand behind his jab which quickly got Saomoto’s attention. Thus leading to Nakamura defending a takedown from his adversary in the corner of the ring. Saomoto’s persistence paid off as he sat Nakamura down and began looking to get his opponent flat on his back. Unable to do so, the referee stood them up. Nakamura was looking for a flying knee but only managed to hit the body at best. Swinging his right hand and landing, Saomoto appeared hurt for a second. Then, out of nowhere Saomoto throws a haymaker of a left hand and puts his foe out for the big win.
https://twitter.com/kick_mma2020/status/1292698511415287808
Result: Tatsuki Saomoto def. Yusaku Nakamura via first-round knockout (punch)
Kickboxing: Catchweight – 161lbs: Kaito Ono vs. Daryl Lokoku
Round 1
Instantly, Kaito starts the action with his patented leg kicks as he lands four in a row. Lokoku waits for his opening and connects with a big left to the head of Kaito. Kaito got back to his leg kicks, however, and Lokoku was already noticeably in pain from them. Lokoku lands one of his own after taking a teep kick. Lokoku started to try and counter off of Kaito’s leg kick with two punch combos but found little success.
https://twitter.com/streetfitebncho/status/1292705251192123397
Round 2
Lokoku fires a big left hook early that grazes Kaito. The leg kicks began coming back at him. Lokoku strikes with a punch to the body and Kaito spins for a wheel kick high but misses. Kaito’s attack primarily consisted of his leg kicks and teep kicks while Lokoku looked to counter with big bombs. Finding the timing, he was starting to land better as the round went on, sneaking through Kaito’s guard with nothing coming back.
Round 3
The fighters traded body kicks early but neither too damaging. Kaito’s leg kick attack had slowed as Lokoku started to find his timing. Kaito landed a decent left straight on Lokoku as he whiffed for a big shot of his own. Lokoku’s left was finding its way around Kaito’s guard now, leading to Kaito pressuring more but his attack remained limited to mostly leg kicks. Kaito rattled off a nice left to the body before a right up top. The bell sounds with Lokoku aiming for one last big shot.
Result: Kaito Ono def. Daryl Lokoku via unanimous decision
Catchweight – 130lbs: Seiichiro Ito vs. Makoto “Shinryu” Takahashi
Round 1
Ito opened up with a leg kick early and the two clinched in the middle of the ring to exchange knees. Ito would get Shinryu to the ropes before Shinryu was flipped almost completely around. They moved over to the corner and Ito got suplexed twice right on his neck but got back up each time. Shinryu decided to jump on and backpack his opponent after the suplexing unphased him. Working for a rear-naked choke now, he mixed in elbows and punches to Ito who was carrying his weight in the corner. Ito managed to wiggle Shinryu off and get over-under to begin landing knees to the body. Breaking apart with 30 seconds left in the round, Shinryu was throwing with intent but couldn’t find a home for his punches.
https://twitter.com/MikeLovesTacosX/status/1292707107461050370
https://twitter.com/streetfitebncho/status/1292707180882407425
Round 2
Shinryu landed a pair of right hands early but quickly found himself on his back only to work for a kimura that he used as a transition. Getting all the way to Ito’s back from here, Ito scrambled and threw his opponent off putting him under his side control. Bursting up, Shinryu pushed them both back into the corner on their feet. Shinryu landed some heavy foot stomps before Ito shifted the position. Ito’s failing on a trip takedown separated the men. Absorbing a big body kick, Shinryu went for a takedown of his own that got stuffed as Ito put him on his back landing in half guard. Ito passed beautifully to side control briefly looking for a possible americana. Shinryu used his strength to escape the position once again. Insanely, Shinryu then attempts a flying knee but Ito catches him – to his detriment. Shinryu sinks in a guillotine and gets the tap.
https://twitter.com/MikeLovesTacosX/status/1292709521941573638
Result: Makoto Shinryu def. Seiichiro Ito via second-round submission (guillotine)
Featherweight – 145lbs: Kotetsu Boku vs. Jin Aoi
Round 1
Aoi swings and misses with a would-be home run hitter of a left hand right out the gate. Boku started to work his jab only for Aoi to look for knockout punches to counter. Undeterred, Boku stuck to his gameplan. Aoi connected with a left overhand but stumbled when pressing forward to follow it up. The pace slowed toward the latter portion of the round with Aoi waiting for the big opening while Boku pawed with his lead hand. At the 10 second clapper, Aoi rushed in recklessly but did no real damage as he backed Boku into the corner.
https://twitter.com/MikeLovesTacosX/status/1292720315852824582
Round 2
Aoi lands a left hand early but it didn’t do much. Instead, it was the second he landed as it pushed Boku back and Aoi swarmed. After a brief clinching in the corner, Boku got back to jabbing and seemed unafraid of Aoi’s power and reckless intent. The two traded leg kicks before getting back to punching. Boku landed a big right hand that caught Aoi off guard as Aoi ripped to the body. A sneaky uppercut connected for Boku with his left but Aoi fired off a two punch combo to get back. At the minute mark, Aoi attacked big with his left. In the clinch, he landed nicely on the break. Boku was sticking with his jab but starting to chain it into more combos to close out the round. Unfortunately for him, they didn’t ever get through.
Round 3
Boku rushed Aoi to start things off as Aoi defended with a spinning back kick to the body of all things. Boku’s left was starting to find its home early with jabs and hooks. Boku landed a good straight right as Aoi went for a head kick. Aoi ate a nice one-two from Boku but fired back effectively with punches. Boku’s jab remained a consistent weapon as the two-minute mark approached. Although Aoi seemed to be the more powerful of the two, he was allowing Boku to dictate the pace. With thirty seconds left, he exploded with a big pair of hooks to the veteran.
Result: Jin Aoi def. Kotetsu Boku via unanimous decision
Kickboxing: Bantamweight – 135lbs: Kento Haraguchi vs. Taiga Kawabe
Round 1
A nice pair of leg kicks started the action for Kento. Mixing a head kick in, Kento scored another two down low. Taiga landed a hard left hand that shook Kento’s balance only for him to eat a knee afterward. Kento landed an uppercut at the same time as a straight left from his opponent. Leaping in, a massive right hook floored Taiga. Smelling blood, Kento came forward and assaulted Taiga putting him down again. Taiga recovered only to be swarmed further and brutalized for the knockout defeat.
— inxxane (@inxxane) August 10, 2020
Result: Kento Haraguchi def. Taiga Kawabe via first-round knockout (punches)
Featherweight: Yutaka Saito vs. Kazumasa Majima
Round 1
Majima comes forward and Saito connects with a shot that staggers. Majima engages in the clinch bringing his opponent to the corner seeking the takedown. His plan backfired as Saito shifted the momentum and winds up on top. Majima manages to kick him off and continue attacking with a takedown that he slowly succeeds with. Initially, on the back, Majima shifts to get in half guard before side control. Attempting to get the crucifix, Saito is aware of it and evades it quickly as he transitions his way over to full guard. Majima connected with some small ground and pound punches to the body and head before shuffling Saito over to the corner. Saito found his way to the feet before the bell only to get taken down once more.
Round 2
Shooting in early for a takedown, Majima doesn’t quite get ahold of Saito and eats a stiff soccer kick and another follows quickly. Attempting to get close, Majima starts to eat knees and fades from consciousness.
https://twitter.com/streetfitebncho/status/1292731729413898241
Result: Yutaka Saito def. Kazumasa Majima via second-round knockout (knees)
Bantamweight: Yuki Motoya vs. Mamoru Uoi “Fullswing”
Round 1
After a patient first minute for each, Uoi takes his first swings as Motoya blocks the punches nicely. Motoya grazes the body with a kick. The respect each man had was evident but mostly in favor of Motoya to Uoi as he kept his punches very limited. Late in the round, Motoya found a home for a cleaner body kick with a leg kick to boot. Uoi got one of his own in late as he swung with big punches as he backed into a corner.
Round 2
Motoya connected with some leg kicks early as Uoi started to work his jab. A body kick from Motoya saw a quick punch exchange behind it. Motoya saw the moment to pressure some more which gave him a moment to clinch but he gave it up. Motoya continued to push forward and start the trading of strikes. His technique was better while Uoi was seeking the bombs. Jumping in with a knee, Motoya dropped Uoi and got comfortably into half guard while he dropped punches hoping for a finish. Transitioning to butterfly guard, Uoi kicked Motoya off where up-kicks and stomp attempts started to fly. Nothing landing super clean, the round would end with Motoya back in half guard.
Round 3
Uoi threw a handful of looping left hands while Motoya paired together two front kicks. A leg kick from Motoya was met in return with that big Uoi left hand. Both aggressively swinging in the corner with little connection, Motoya would grab Uoi and find a guillotine as his opponent’s head dipped. Thus forcing the tap.
https://twitter.com/MikeLovesTacosX/status/1292738483145056256
Result: Yuki Motoya def. Mamoru Uoi “Fullswing” via third-round submission (guillotine)
Bantamweight: (Vacant title bout) – Kai Asakura vs. Hiromasa Ogikubo
Round 1
A big left head kick from Asakura gets Ogikubo’s attention before Asakura attacks with a big knee. Keeping the pressure on, Asakura finds an uppercut. The two trade leg chopping kicks. Asakura’s attack showing diversity as he rips the body and goes high with punches. A big left from Asakura wobbles Ogikubo. Ogikubo stays composed and backs his opponent away with body kicks. Asakura connects with a big left to the body that tightens up Ogikubo’s stance. Pouring on the pressure, Asakura backs Ogikubo to the corner and ropes as he circles. Asakura sneaks in a damaging uppercut followed by a huge knee to drop Ogikubo. Two soccer kicks would then seal the deal for the new champion after punches didn’t do the trick.
https://twitter.com/MikeLovesTacosX/status/1292743636355092481
Result: Kai Asakura def. Hiromasa Ogikubo via first-round TKO (soccer kicks)
