RIZIN FF World Grand Prix 2017 – OFFICIAL WEIGHTS & FIGHTER QUOTES
RIZIN WORLD GRAND PRIX MATCHES
Men’s Bantamweights
Manel Kape (9-1-0), Angola, 60,40 kg / 133 lbs.
vs.
Kyoaji Horiiguchi (21-2-0), Japan, 60,75 kg / 133 ½ lbs.
Takafumi Otsuka (24-13-0), Japan, 61,00 kg / 134 ½ lbs.
vs.
Shintaro Ishiwatari (24-6-0), Japan, 61,00 kg / 134 ½ lbs.
(winners to meet in championship final)
Women’s Super-Atomweights
Rena Kubota (5-0-0), Japan 48,85 kg / 107 lbs.
vs.
Irene “La Nina” Rivera (7-4-0), Spain, 48,9 kg / 107 ½ lbs.
Kanna Asakura (9-2-0), Japan, 48,75 / 107 lbs.
vs.
Maria Oliveira (10-2-0), Brazil, 48,7 kg / 107 lbs.
(winners to meet in championship final)
SPECIAL HEAVYWEIGHT ATTRACTION
Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic (35-11-0), Croatia, 110,15 / 242 ½ lbs.
vs.
Tsuyoshi Kosaka (27-19-2), Japan, 101,7 kg, 224 lbs.
LIGHTWEIGHTS
Takanori “The Fireball Kid” Gomi (18-6-0), Japan, 72,0 kg / 158 lbs.
vs.
Yusuke Yachi (18-6-0), Japan 71,8 / 158 lbs.
WOMEN FLYWEIGHTS
Shinju “Juju” Auclair (1-0-0), USA, 56,75 / 125 ½ lbs.
vs.
Chelsea LaGrasse (pro debut), USA, 52,9 kg / 116 lbs.
Kickboxing
Yamato Fujita, Japan, 57,0 kg / 125 lbs.
vs.
Mitsushisa Sunabe, Japan, 56,8 kg / 125 lbs.
Tenshin Nasuikawa, Japan, 57,0 kg / 125 lbs.
vs.
Yuat Hammamoto, Japan, 56,95 kg / 125 lbs
WHAT: RIZIN FF World Grand Prix 2017 Pay Per View
WHEN: Sunday, Dec. 31, 2017
WHERE: Saitama Super Arena in Saitama City, Japan
PROMOTER: RIZIN FF
LIVE AIRING: Live-streamed worldwide excluding Japan (1 a.m. /10 p.m. PT start) on the FITE.TV platforms for $19.99.
ORDER AND WATCH BELOW:
ANNOUNCERS: “Showdown” Joe Ferraro and former MMA fighter Frank Trigg
FIGHTER QUOTES
Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic: “After winning the Open weight GP last year, it was big news back in Croatia. Everybody watched the fight and TV ratings in Croatia was very high. I am very happy to be injury free and healthier than ever. I feel good, strong mentally and physically.
Tsuyoshi Kosaka: “I am not looking for a clean fight. I am going to make this an ugly fight. I am going to give everything I have and, even if that means I have to crawl to land a punch on Mirko, I will do so. Over 10 years ago, when Fujita Yoshida lost to Mirko, I had this urge that I want to fight Mirko. I wanted to be that Japanese fighter to beat him, but at the time, it never happened. Kids these day have so many tools to learn from. They have this perception on what fighting is like based off You Tube videos and other information on the internet. But, in reality, anything can happen in the ring. You have to start training knowing that things are not going to go as planned. Understanding the possibilities of any situation is the first step on becoming a fighter.”:
Takanori Gomi:“I want to show the casual fans that training martial arts can benefit your lifestyle, it helps you get physically and mentally tough. I currently teach children how to wrestle, but I want to pass on my knowledge, as a competitor, to the next generation. My perfect fight would be where both fighters can give it all we’ve got, against a fighter where we can sort of ‘click.’ Just slug it out and have fun with it. Enjoy the insane emotions that rush while you are exchanging shots. As long as I can have fun, feeling that moment, the end results are something very small for me. Combat sports is scary. I get scared before a fight. But when I hear my walkout music and when the lights go on, my switch goes on, and I forget all my fears. I don’t care about the results, I’m only focused on how the fans will be entertained. Fighting never goes as planned.”
Yusuke Yachi:“I’m into game meat. I only eat wild meat and no farmed animals. I like to head out to café’s and enjoy a good cup of coffee and sweets. I grew up watching PRIDE and K-1. My idol is Mirko. Ever since I started fighting in RIZIN, my social media followers have grown significantly….. mostly men, who are into me. I went from 500 followers to 2500 after one fight. Television exposure is amazing.”
