Video: BROADENED HORIZIN Episode 3: Kanako Murata, Kana Watanabe, Koji Takeda, and Juri Ohara
The lightweight division was on display at RIZIN 24 and they did not disappoint.
This is BROADENED HORIZIN. The MMA podcast show hosted by Drake Riggs where we chat with your favorite Japanese and RIZIN superstars… in English!
Episode 3 featured yet another great lineup of guests.
In this episode, a UFC newcomer made an appearance. That being none other than the former Invicta FC strawweight champion and six-time RIZIN veteran, Kanako Murata.
Renowned for her excellent wrestling background, Murata made her MMA debut at RIZIN 1 in 2016. Less than five years later and she’s been nearly flawless with an 11-1 record and is now set to enter the ultimate proving ground.
Murata’s final pair of RIZIN outings saw her make some history by pulling off back to back Von Flue chokes. Thus making her only one of three fighters in MMA history to do so. She was the first female in a major MMA promotion to successfully perform the submission and the only until Alesha Zappitella’s most recent victory at Invicta FC 42.
A fellow former Invicta titleholder in Livia Renata Souza will welcome Murata to the Octagon on November 14 at UFC Vegas 14.
One of the three big lightweight winners coming out of RIZIN 24 was the current Deep champion, Koji Takeda.
Takeda saw himself taking on a fellow lightweight champion in Shooto’s Yuki Kawana. The bout acted as Takeda’s sophomore appearance within the RIZIN ring and he was able to reverse the results of his promotional debut.
A back and forth battle through three rounds, Takeda came out with the split decision nod to extend his current winning streak to three straight. Now he hopes to fight again before the year’s end but ultimately has his eyes set on making it to the UFC.
Will someone just fight Kana Watanabe?! No? Okay, well, we don’t blame them.
The unbeaten 9-0-1 Judo black belt has managed to compete at a pretty frequent pace throughout her three years in MMA. However, that came to a halt in 2020 due to reasons out of her, as well as everyone’s, control.
Now that MMA is back around the world in an altered manner, she’s still struggling to lock down a fight. With her last fight coming in Bellator with a nice third-round TKO of Ilara Joanne, Watanabe hopes to continue taking out the international competition as soon as possible.
Speaking of activity, Deep stalwart Juri Ohara has fought at a stunning pace for still being just 29 years old.
Ohara went to war with Yusuke Yachi at RIZIN 24 to kick off the event and the two put on a fight of the year candidate. In the end, Ohara was the one who walked away with his hand raised and provided reason for fans to keep their eyes on him.
The fight was No. 48 for Ohara in his career and he doesn’t have any plans to slow down just yet as he already has two fights in the books for 2020.
All that and more on BROADENED HORIZIN! Watch the full episode in the video above or you can listen on the Loudmouth MMA Podcast Network.
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