Luiz
Gustavo captured Rizin lightweight gold on Sunday. | Rizin
FF
After close to eight years on the roster, Luiz
Gustavo’s dream of becoming a
Rizin Fighting Federation world champion was at last realized
on Sunday at Rizin
53in Kobe, Hyogo, Japan. Gustavo brutally knocked out Ilhom
Nazimov in the first round to become the new Rizin lightweight
champion in his 12th fight for the promotion.
Gustavo (16-4, 8-4 Rizin), who challenged unsuccessfully for the
Rizin lightweight strap in September 2024, made the most of his
second chance and handed Nazimov (13-4, 4-1 Rizin) his first defeat
under the Rizin banner. Early on, Nazimov cut off the ring very
well and prevented Gustavo from using any lateral movement. Nazimov
landed two spinning back kicks to Gustavo’s upper body and seemed
to be comfortable in the striking exchanges. That changed soon
after, however, as Gustavo landed a thunderous right hook that sent
Nazimov crashing to the mat. Gustavo immediately pounced on his
downed foe and bounced his head off of the canvas with four
follow-up punches for the knockout victory at the 2:08 mark of
Round 1.
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A Potential Challenger Emerges
It might not take too long to find out who will be Gustavo’s first
title challenger. During an intermission, former lightweight champ
Roberto
Satoshi de Souza – who stopped Gustavo in just 21 seconds at
Rizin 48 – was announced to be making his return to action this
summer. De Souza’s title reign ended on New Year’s Eve when he was
knocked out by Nazimov. However, with de Souza holding a quick win
over new champion Gustavo, a rematch could be the route that Rizin
pursues in the coming months.
In the co-main event, Ren
Hiramoto and Koji Tanaka
fought to a time-limit draw in their openweight boxing match.
Hiramoto clearly won all three rounds against the smaller Tanaka,
who struggled against Hiramoto’s jabs and left hooks. Hiramoto
further mixed up his strikes as the fight progressed and his
confidence grew. He was not able to secure a finish, however, and
the bout ended in a draw after three, three-minute rounds.
Featherweight contender Ryo
Takagi (11-3, 5-2 Rizin) spoiled the Rizin debut of former Road
to UFC finalist Kaiwen Li
(16-8, 0-1 Rizin) and finished the Chinese standout in the first
round. Li got off to a good start with a nice combination of
punches and Takagi soon responded with two knees to the body. He
landed a looping right hook to Li’s temple that scrambled his brain
and put him on roller skates. Li fell to the ground and Takagi
landed a few more follow-up punches for the knockout win at the
1:38 mark of Round 1.
Opening up the main card, Shinobu Ota
(8-5, 7-5 Rizin) dominated Yuto
Hokamura (16-16-2, 4-8 Rizin) en route to a second-round
submission finish at bantamweight. Following an exchange of leg and
body kicks in the first round, Ota took Hokamura down twice and he
did a significant amount of damage with punches and knees that came
close to ending the fight. Hokamura recovered and got to his feet,
and he staggered Ota with a four-punch combo before the bell. In
the second round, Ota put Hokamura on the mat again. He landed
punches and shoulder strikes from the top until he was able to lock
on an arm-triangle choke that forced Hokamura to tap out at the
4:25 mark of Round 2.
The lone women’s MMA bout on the card was a 113-pound catchweight
contest between the highly popular Keito Oyama
(10-8, 3-2 Rizin) and former Combate Global and Invicta FC
competitor Katie Perez
(7-11, 0-1 Rizin). Early in the fight, Perez countered her
opponent’s superior boxing by pulling guard, but “Kate Lotus”
escaped to her feet and landed punches and knees. Oyama hurt Perez
with more punches and knees in the second stanza, and she countered
a takedown with elbows to the side of Perez’s head. The round ended
with Perez stuck in a triangle choke. Oyama attempted rear-naked
chokes in the final round until Perez took top position and landed
knees and elbows to her face. Oyama got back into top position
later in the round and scored with knees of her own. All three
judges scored the fight in favor of Oyama for a unanimous decision
victory.
A lightweight bout between prospect Sho
Patrick Usami (9-5, 5-3 Rizin) and former Pancrase champion
Tatsuya
Saika (14-8, 1-4 Rizin) ended in devastating fashion when Usami
knocked Saika out with an early left hook. Usami wobbled Saika
early and often with lead left hands. Following an exchange in
close, Saika took a step back and Usami floored him with one more
left hook for the knockout at the 1:38 mark of Round 1.
After being largely dominated for two rounds, Cage Fury champion
Ryan
Cafaro (15-6, 1 NC; 1-0 Rizin) took advantage of a mistake from
Koyomi
Matsushima (15-8, 0-1 Rizin) and tapped him out with a
rarely-seen inverted guillotine choke. Matsushima dropped Cafaro
with a head kick and punches in the first round of the
featherweight bout, and threatened with chokes on the ground, but
he was unable to put the American away. Cafaro did stun Matsushima
momentarily with a right hook in Round 2, but the middle frame was
controlled by Matsushima’s kicks that targeted Cafaro’s liver. In
the final round, the fighters scrambled on the ground and Cafaro
secured a guillotine choke. Matsushima tried to spin in order to
escape, but Cafaro simply adjusted his grip to an inverted
guillotine choke – also known as a “dragon sleeper” in professional
wrestling – and Matsushima hastily tapped out at the 2:23 mark of
Round 3. This was a very impressive comeback by Cafaro.
Daiki
Tsubota (13-13-3, 2-1 Rizin) handed striker Genji Umeno
(2-1, 2-1 Rizin) his first MMA loss in quick and decisive fashion
at bantamweight. Tsubota pulled Umeno down into his guard and threw
elbows from the bottom until he was able to lock on a triangle
choke that forced a dejected Umeno to submit at the 2:37 mark of
Round 1.
A 137-pound catchweight contest predictably ended early in the
first round when Ryoma
Shishimoto (4-0, 2-0 Rizin) – better known as “Jolly” –
embarrassed former kickboxer Kenshin
Kodama (0-1, 0-1 Rizin) with his vastly superior grappling.
Shishimoto pulled guard and trapped Kodama in an armbar during the
opening minute. Kodama tried in vain to spin free, but Shishimoto
pulled back on the arm again and referee Takashi Hashimoto wisely
waved off the bout at the 1:11 mark.
Despite getting dropped four times – and nearly finished twice –
during a very rough first round, Joe
Hiramoto (3-2, 3-1 Rizin) valiantly fought on and ultimately
avenged an amateur loss by stopping rival Seiya
Ameyama (6-4, 1 NC; 0-2 Rizin) early in the second round of
their flyweight matchup. Ameyama scored three knockdowns with left
hooks early on, but Hiramoto refused to quit and he wounded Ameyama
with punches after getting back to his feet. Undeterred, Ameyama
dropped Hiramoto one more time and came close again to finishing
him with elbows. Hiramoto got back to his feet once more and he
attacked Ameyama’s liver with kicks. Hiramoto dropped Ameyama with
a front kick to the liver and instantly secured a rear-naked choke
that forced Ameyama to submit just 27 seconds into Round 2.
Incredible heart and perseverance was shown by Hiramoto in
victory.
Opening up the middle portion of the card, Kouki
Nakagawa (13-6, 1 NC; 2-0 Rizin) overcame three groin strikes
and took a well-deserved unanimous decision victory over Jake
Wilkins (5-4, 0-1 Rizin) in featherweight action. In the first
two rounds, Nakagawa got off to good starts with his boxing before
his offense slowed. That allowed Wilkins to land some strikes of
his own, though one was an inadvertent kick to Nakagawa’s groin,
but Nakagawa reversed a takedown and mounted Wilkins before the end
of the second round. In the final frame, Nakagawa was immediately
kneed in the groin and took some time to recover. He dropped
Wilkins with a right hand after the restart, and tried to finish
him with chokes on the ground, but Wilkins escaped. For good
measure, Nakagawa was kicked one more time in the groin, and this
time it resulted in Wilkins being given a yellow card. The messy
fight continued and both men hurt each other with right hooks at
the same time. All three judges scored the bout in Nakagawa’s
favor.
On the preliminary card, Souru
Hamaguchi (7-4, 1-0 Rizin) knocked out Haruto
Sunada (3-1, 1 NC; 0-1 Rizin) with punches from mount at the
2:33 mark of Round 1 in a flyweight MMA bout; Yushi defeated
Asatarou via unanimous decision in a 137-pound kickboxing match;
Hinata Kitano won her 102-pound kickboxing bout against Juna Koda
via unanimous decision; and Shota opened up the card by posting a
unanimous decision win against Tomoya Sudo in flyweight kickboxing
action.