The main event of the promotion’s monumental first show in the country featured Azerbaijan’s own Vugar Karamov, the promotion’s reigning featherweight champion, putting his title on the line against Japan’s Chihiro Suzuki. Karamov, who has also competed for Bellator MMA, captured the championship against promotional mainstay Mikuru Asakura earlier this year.

Also in action on Saturday at the National Gymnastics Arena in Baku, Azerbaijan was another Bellator alum and longtime RIZIN fighter, Tofiq Musayev. He was set to take on Koji Takeda, who was looking to halt a two-fight skid. Musayev had last been seen at Super RIZIN 2, where he got back in the win column after having been bounced from the Bellator Lightweight Grand Prix in the Quarterfinal round.

Where to Watch RIZIN Landmark 7

RIZIN Landmark 7 in Azerbaijan goes down Saturday, November 4, 2023 at the National Gymnastics Arena in Baku, Azerbaijan, with an English-language live stream available via Fite.tv. The card gets underway at 9AM ET. Full results from the event can be found below.

RIZIN Landmark 7 Results

Chihiro Suzuki def. Vugar Karamov (c) by KO, Round 1, 1:18 — for the RIZIN featherweight championship
Tofiq Musayev def. Koji Takeda by TKO (punches), Round 3, 2:03
Ali Abdulkhalikov def. Nariman Abbasov by unanimous decision
Mehman Mamedov def. Fergit Goktepe by unanimous decision
Kyung Pyo Kim def. Tural Ragimov by KO, Round 1, 0:21

Intermission

Anastasiya Svetkivska def. Farida Abdueva by submission (arm-bar), Round 2, 4:20
Ilkhom Nozimov def. Juares Dea by unanimous decision
Vladislav Rudniev def. Iliyar Askhanov by unanimous decision
Shota Betlemidze def. Quentin Domingos by TKO (injury), Round 1, 5:00
Hasan Mezhiev def. Konstantin Merkulov by submission (rear-naked choke), Round 1, 2:32

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Headlined by a pair of veterans in Hideo Tokoro and Alan Yamaniha competing at bantamweight, the card also featured heavyweight Tsuyoshi Sudario, who was originally expected to face Todd Duffee at RIZIN 44 last weekend. Due to travel delays/visa issues on the part of Duffee, the fight was pushed back a week, with the UFC veteran eventually replaced by South Korea’s Dong Hwan Lim.

Thailand’s Topnoi Kiwram, who competed on both the 2022 and 2023 edition of the Road to UFC tournament, was also in action on Sunday, taking on Yuki Ito. And former UFC athlete Rogerio Bontorin faced off with Yutaro Muramoto.

RIZIN Landmark 6 takes place at the Dolphins Arena in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan on Sunday, October 1, 2023. An English language broadcast is available to stream via Fite.tv. Full results can be found below.

RIZIN Landmark 6 Results

Alan Yamaniha def. Hideo Tokoro by unanimous decision
Shoko Sato def. Shinobu Ota by split decision
Tsuyoshi Sudario def. Dong Hwan Lim by TKO, Round 3, 2:10
Yuki Ito def. Topnoi Kiwram by split decision
Genji Umeno def. Yuto Saito by majority decision — Kickboxing

Intermission

Yusaku Nakamura def. Hiroya by split decision
Igor Tanabe def. Animal Koji by submission (triangle), Round 1, 3:40
Machi def. Ayaka Watanabe by split decision
Hidetaka Arato def. Takakenshin by TKO, Round 2, 4:55
Rogerio Bontorin def. Yutaro Muramoto by unanimous decision
Viktor Kolesnik def. Ryo Takagi by unanimous decision
Yusaku Inoue def. Kohei Tokeshi by TKO, Round 1, 1:11
Joji Goto def. Junya Hibino by submission (twister), Round 2, 2:00
Shogo Ota def. Ginji Hara by submission (arm-bar), Round 1, 1:52 — Special Rules Bout
Genki Takeno def. Ryota Naito by unanimous decision — Kickboxing
Ryuki Kirishima def. Masanari by unanimous decision — Special Rules Bout

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The 11-fight card was primarily MMA action with a single kickboxing bout mixed in for good measure. For western fight fans willing to stay up late (or get up early), the event featured a handful of familiar names— UFC veteran Masanori Kanehara was in the co-main event, taking on former RIZIN featherweight champ Kleber Koike of Brazil.

Koike, also a former KSW champ, had been stripped off his title previously after missing weight for a fight with Chihiro Suzuki in June. Coupled with a non-title fight loss to Patricio Pitbull last December, it was a bit of a rough patch for Koike. Kanehara, meanwhile, had won three straight, and five of his six fights since exiting the UFC in 2016.

Also in action, former UFC fighter and Bellator star Spike Carlyle, and heavyweight veteran Todd Duffee, who served two stints in the UFC. Duffee was paired up with former sumo wrestler and RIZIN mainstay Tsuyoshi Sudario (that bout is postponed due to travel issues), while Carlyle, a.k.a. “The Alpha Ginger,” was booked against fellow UFC alum Yoshinori Horie.

RIZIN 44 gets underway at 1AM ET on Sunday, September 24, 2023 with an English stream airing live via Fite.tv. Full results can be found below.

RIZIN 44 Results

Masanori Kanehara def. Kleber Koike by unanimous decision
Juntaro Ushiku def. Kyohei Hagiwara by unanimous decision
Yoshinori Horie def. Spike Carlyle by unanimous decision

Tsuyoshi Sudario vs. Todd Duffee — postponed to October 1

Intermission

Rukiya Anpo def. Sho Patrick Usami by unanimous decision — Kickboxing
Yoshiki Nakahara def. Rikuto Shirakawa by unanimous decision
Kazumasa Majima def. Takeji Yokoyama by unanimous decision
Ryuya Fukuda def. Erson Yamamoto by TKO (doctor’s stoppage), Round 3, 1:37
Taichi Nakajima def. Ryo Okada by unanimous decision
Shoma Shibisai def. Janos Csukas by submission (kneebar), Round 1, 2:27
Ramazan Terimov def. Takaki Soya by knockout, Round 1, 3:15

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Two title fights adorned the card at the Saitama Super Arena, with RIZIN’s vacant bantamweight and featherweight titles up for grabs.

In the main event, homegrown star Mikuru Asakura faced off with Vugar Karamov to crown a new featherweight champ in the Japanese promotion. Asakura might be best known to casual fans for boxing Floyd Mayweather Jr. a year ago, but he had also won his last three fights in MMA. Karamov, for his part, had won three straight fights under the RIZIN banner, including a win over UFC vet Yoshinori Horie.

In the co-main event, former Bellator MMA bantamweight champion Juan Archuleta looked to claim a second title in a major promotion, as he went after the 135lb crown in RIZIN. Originally booked against Kai Asakura, Mikuru’s brother, the injured Kai was instead replaced by Ultimate Fighter vet Hiromasa Ougikubo.

Super RIZIN 2 takes place Sunday, July 30, 2023 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. The card streams live via Fite.tv. Full results can be found below.

Super RIZIN 2: Asakura vs. Karamov Results

Featherweight: Vugar Karamov def. Mikuru Asakura by submission (rear-naked choke), Round 1, 2:41 — for the vacant RIZIN featherweight championship
Bantamweight: Juan Archuleta def. Hiromasa Ougikubo by unanimous decision — for the vacant RIZIN bantamweight championship
Seika Izakawa def. Claire Lopez by submission (ninja choke), Round 1, 1:04 — for the RIZIN women’s atomweight championship
Lightweight: Chihiro Suzuki def. Patricio Pitbull by KO, Round 1, 2:32
Lightweight: Tofiq Musayev def. Akira Okada by KO, Round 2, 1:11
Bantamweight: Shinobu Ota def. Kenta Takizawa by TKO, Round 1, 4:54
Middleweight: Igor Tanabe def. Daichi Abe by submission (heel hook), Round 1, 4:34
Flyweight: Yuki Ito def. Hiroya Kondo by split decision

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The main event featured a featherweight title fight between Kleber Koike, a Brazilian-born Japanese talent and former KSW champ, and Chihiro Suzuki. But after missing weight during Friday’s official weigh-in, Koike had been stripped of his featherweight title, a move announced by RIZIN CEO Nobuyuki Sakakibara.

The end result of that move was that, come fight night, only Suzuki was eligible to win the belt — were Koike to claim victory, the championship would remain vacant.

A similar situation had befallen UFC champ Charles Oliveira last year.

Also on the RIZIN 43 card, homegrown star Yusuke Yachi was paired up with Bellator MMA vet Zach Zane, while heavyweight Hideki “Shrek” Sekine was in action against Mikio Ueda.

RIZIN 43 takes place on Saturday, September 24, 2023 at the Makomanai Ice Arena in Sapporo, with the card streaming live via Fite.tv. Full results can be found below.

RIZIN 43 Results

Kleber Koike vs. Chihiro Suzuki ruled a No Contest (originally an armbar submission win for Koike, overruled as he missed weight) — for the vacant Rizin Featherweight Championship (only Suzuki is eligible to win title)
Yusuke Yachi def. Zach Zane by submission (rear-naked choke), Round 1, 2:50
Mikio Ueda def. Hideki Sekine by TKO, Round 1, 0:22
Hiroaki Suzuki def. Taisei Nishitani by TKO, Round 1, 0:56
Hiroki Suzuki def. Genji Umeno by KO (knee), Round 2, 2:34 — Kickboxing rules

Intermission

Minoru Kimura def. Daryl Lokoku by KO (punch), Round 1, 1:08 — Kickboxing rules
Yuta Kubo def. Takeaki Kinoshita by split decision
Saori Oshima def. Haruka Hasegawa by submission (V cross arm lock), Round 1, 1:16
Suguru Nii def. Tateo Iida by TKO (strikes), Round 1, 2:32
Tetsuya Seki def. Raiki Endo by unanimous decision
Joji Goto def. Trent Girdham by submission (twister), Round 2, 2:34
Aoi Kuriyama def. Marina Kumagai by KO, Round 1, 2:48
Kensei Yamakawa def. Ryoga Hirano by TKO, Round 3, 1:22 — Kickboxing rules

Opening Bouts

Toshiki Watanabe def. Kento Azumi by submission (kneebar), Round 1, 1:07 — Special rules
Suguru Hayasaka def. Daiki Maruyama by submission (arm-triangle choke), Round 1, 3:33 — Special rules
Aito Tanimura def. Ryuya Koide by TKO, Round 1, 0:55 — Kickboxing rules
Shoki Hoshikubo vs. Kazuyuki Furukawa ruled a No Contest (originally a unanimous decision for Hoshikubo, who missed weight) — Kickboxing rules

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A much bigger card than it’s RIZIN Landmark 5 counterpart, RIZIN 42 had a number of notable fights to present, including the return of Bellator MMA standout Juan Archuleta.

In the main event, former RIZIN bantamweight champion Kai Asakura was back in action, facing Japanese 40+ fight veteran Yuki Motoya. In the co-feature was former Bellator bantamweight champ Archuleta, returning to Japan for the second time to take on UFC alum Naoki Inoue. Another UFC alum and Bellator fighter, Spike Carlyle, was paired up with lightweight champ Roberto Satoshi Souza, in a non-title affair.

And kicking off the top four fights on the RIZIN 42 card on Saturday was the debut of Muay Thai legend Buakaw Banchamek.

Earlier in the night, meanwhile, Ulka Sasaki, another former UFC athlete, was in action against Boyd Allen, while two-time UFC flyweight title challenger John Dodson returned against Tatsuki Saomoto.

RIZIN 42 takes place at the Tokyo Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan on Saturday, April 6, 2023, airing live on Fite.tv. Full results can be found below. The action gets underway at 1AM ET.

RIZIN 42 Results

Kai Asakura def. Yuki Motoya by knockout (knee), Round 3, 2:25
Juan Archuleta def. Naoki Inoue by unanimous decision
Roberto Satoshi Souza def. Spike Carlyle by unanimous decision
Buakaw Banchamek vs. Rukiya Anpo ruled a majority draw — Kickboxing

Intermission

YA-MAN def. Kota Miura by TKO, Round 1, 3:13 — Special rules
John Dodson def. Tatsuki Saomoto by unanimous decision
Kazumasa Majima def. Takahiro Ashida by submission (Von Flue choke), Round 1, 4:43
Ulka Sasaki def. Boyd Allen by unanimous decision
Viktor Kolesnik def. Atsushi Kishimoto by TKO, Round 2, 2:57
Erson Yamamoto def. Yuki Ito by unanimous decision
Takeji Yokoyama def. Takuya Yamamoto by submission (arm-bar), Round 1, 1:24
Ramazan Temirov def. Yuta Hamamoto by TKO, Round 1, 4:06
Sota Kimura def. Yasuhiro Kido by unanimous decision — Kickboxing

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Topped by former featherweight champ Juntaro Ushiku taking on former Rings champ Mikuru Asakura (notable to western fans perhaps for his exhibition boxing bout with Floyd Mayweather Jr.), there were a number of recognizable names on the card. In addition to ex-champ Ushiku, Yutaka Saito, another former feather champ (who had actually lost his title to Ushiku) was also in action.

Mei Yamaguchi was returning to Japan for the first time since 2019, meanwhile, and moving to RIZIN from ONE Championship in a fight with Super Atomweight staple Kanna Asakura. UFC veterans Masanori Kanehara and Roque Martinez were also set to compete, with Martinez returning to RIZIN, where he had last competed in 2020.

RIZIN Landmark 5 takes place on Saturday, April 29, 2023 with an English-language broadcast available via Fite.tv. Full results from the event, which kicks off at 3AM ET, can be found below.

RIZIN Landmark 5 Results

Mikuru Asakura def. Juntaro Ushiku by unanimous decision
Yutaka Saito def. Ren Hiramoto by split decision
Shinobu Ota def. Kazuma Kuramoto by KO, Round 1, 0:27

Intermission

Luiz Gustavo def. Koji Takeda by split decision
Kanna Asakura def. Mei Yamaguchi by unanimous decision
Claire Lopez def. Rena by submission (kneebar), Round 3, 4:21
Tsuyoshi Sudario def. Roque Martinez by unanimous decision
Masanori Kanehara def. Sora Yamamoto by unanimous decision
Ali Abdulkhalikov def. Tatsuya Saika by KO, Round 1, 3:30

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The ten-fight card was topped by a kickboxing match-up featuring standout bantamweight Kouzi taking on Ryusei Ashizawa. There was certainly no love lost between the main event pair, with Kouzi stating ahead of the fight that “The reason why the trash talk didn’t work out is because he’s got nothing intelligent to say. What kind of adult gets annoyed when a puppy barks at you? He’s just a jealous hater. A man’s jealousy can get you killed. Poor guy.”

On the MMA side of things, former UFC fighter Yoshinori Horie was paired up with Azerbaijan’s Vugar Karamov. Horie had won three straight coming into the fight, while Karamov was 3-1 under the RIZIN banner.

Full results from RIZIN 41, which goes down Saturday, April 1, 2023, can be found below. The event streams live via Fite.tv.

RIZIN 41 Results

Ryusei Ashizawa def. Kouzi by split decision — Kickboxing
Vugar Karamov def. Yoshinori Horie by submission (rear-naked choke), Round 2
Keita Nakamura def. Strasser Kiichi by KO (punches), Round 2
Makoto Shinryu def. Daichi Kitakata by submission (arm-triangle choke), Round 2
Kyohei Hagiwara def. Kyle Aguon by unanimous decision
Koichi Ishizuka def. Kintaro by split decision
Kyung Pyo Kim def. Sho Patrick Usami by submission (rear-naked choke), Round 1, 3:33
Mehman Mamedov def. Yusaku Nakamura by KO (punches), Round 1, 0:23
Shun def. Motoki by TKO (punch), Round 1, 1:37 — Kickboxing
Sota “Cerberus” Kimura def. Shingeki no Yuki by TKO (body punch), Round 3 — Kickboxing
Asatoro def. Shin Sakurai by unanimous decision — Kickboxing
Daichi Akahira def. Yuto Oiwa by TKO (punch), Round 1, 2:47

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On the Japanese promotion’s side, RIZIN Fighting Federation lightweight champ Roberto de Souza looked to boost his profile against the American, in what was almost certainly his toughest match-up to date.

Despite McKee being a former featherweight, he had a slight reach advantage over Brazil’s de Souza. Early in the fight, following a McKee side kick, the RIZIN champ was able to get the fight where he wanted it, jumping guard and clamping down on McKee before he could pull free. de Souza worked on a triangle, with McKee landing hammerfists. Surprisingly enough, when McKee freed himself, he opted to engage on the ground again.

McKee came close to landing a knee on “Satoshi” Souza on the ground, a perfectly legal move. But moments later, de Souza finally latched on with a triangle. McKee was able to fight that off, keeping the Brazilian pressed against the ring post, leaving him without the necessary room to work. McKee then dropped elbows from the top while de Souza continued to hunt submissions.

At the end of the frame, the ref opted to move the pair out of the corner, much to the annoyance of McKee, who was happy where the fight was. It wouldn’t matter, with the round wrapping up without any further drama.

McKee fired off a spinning kick early in round two, but it was de Souza who grazed the Belaltor fighter with a head kick. “Satoshi” then marched forward, but McKee fired a jump knee. The RIZIN champ was then briefly under fire, falling to his back half from a push following a kick to the body. Then it was back to the feet, before de Souza managed to get McKee to the mat, taking the back! With half a round remaining, de Souza locked on with a body triangle. From there, he went hunting for the rear-naked choke.

With ample time to work, de Souza looked to slip an arm under the chin of McKee. Who, for his part, fired punches back while fighting the hands and trying to turn in and reserve. McKee finally opted to escape out the back door, then fired a soccer kick! He stomped the mid-section of de Souza next, as the Brazilian looked to trap a leg. McKee then backed off, letting Roberto de Souza up just prior to the bell sounding.

Round three opened with some heavy exchanges, before McKee went after a d’arce choke. de Souza freed himself, and would later get McKee in a tight guillotine. McKee gutted it out, finally turning and wrenching himself free. Things didn’t get any easier from there. While both men were tired, de Souza took advantage of McKee jumping a guillotine. While he came up short on an arm-triangle choke, the Brazilian managed to take the back standing at the end of the round, coming close on a rear-naked choke attempt. McKee jumped, rolled, and tried to get de Souza off him, but would finish the round with the RIZIN champ on his back.

Despite the adversity, McKee would go on to win it on the scorecards, with Bellator MMA fighters going 5-0 against their Japanese counterparts in RIZIN.

Official Result: A.J. McKee def. Roberto de Souza by unanimous decision

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While other bouts on the cross-promotional New Year’s Eve battle featured current and former champs, no other fight had the two reigning kings of their respective promotions. So while no belts were on the line, bragging rights certainly were, and perhaps a linear title of sorts, should you care about such things.

With Koike boasting 29 submission wins, Pitbull was likely to want to keep this one standing. Things certainly started out that way, with Pitbull patiently walking his opponent down. Koike soon dropped for a takedown attempt, grabbing a leg — but Pitbull pulled free, wanting no part of being on the mat with Kleber Koike, especially early in the fight.

Several exchanges on the feet then followed, with Koike firing kicks low and high. Pitbull was getting the better of those, but again backed up when Koike tried to lure him down to the mat. When Pitbull later threw Koike to the canvas, he again wisely backed off. Koike, meanwhile, connected with a kick to the body, though many of his standup attacks were blocked.

Pitbull was throwing the more accurate, powerful shots, though Koike managed to hold his own, mainly with his kicks. Late in the round, Koike would land a throw, but he flew wide, unable to stick the landing, and couldn’t get on top.

Round two opened with a bit of a chess match. Strikes were few and far between through the opening two minutes, especially for Pitbull, who landed a couple of solid keg kicks about a minute or more apart. Koike created space with front kicks, but couldn’t get close enough to Pitbull to take the fight down. The Bellator champ appeared willing to bide his time, meanwhile, waiting for an opening — which would come in the final minute. With things opening up, Pitbull landed a right hand that seemed to hurt Koike. The RIZIN champ was soon leaking blood by one eye.

The third saw Pitbull rip the body then finish the combo upstairs. And while Koike would take Patricio down moments later, he could not keep the Bellator champ there. Pitbull then chopped the legs as Koike sat back, hoping beyond hope that Pitbull might wade into his guard. The leg kicks kept coming, until the ref opted to stand Koike up. That afforded Koike the opportunity to get the fight down, giving him just over two minutes to work. Just when it seemed like Koike finally had a chance to shift momentum, Pitbull escaped up and out, Koike chasing him. In a later clinch, Koike pulled guard, firing from bottom. Patricio Pitbull then freed himself, and fired a soccer kick, but didn’t land it.

The fight would finish up with Koike being stood up one last time, not that it mattered. Pitbull had the clear win, improving Bellator to 4-0 against RIZIN with one fight remaining on the card.

Official Result: Patricio Pitbull def. Kleber Koike by unanimous decision

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