A rematch between RIZIN Super Atomweight Champion Ayaka Hamasaki and Kanna Asakura was revealed for RIZIN’s March 21st event on Friday. The championship fight led a 10-fight package of bouts announced to happen at RIZIN’s upcoming event at the Nagoya Civic General Gymnasium in Nagoya, Japan.
The rematch between the super atomweights comes just over two years after their first meeting. Their first pairing saw Hamasaki earn a second-round submission to earn the vacant RIZIN super atomweight belt.
Hamasaki’s reign with the 108-pound belt was stopped a year later by Ham Seo Hee. The belt was once again vacated in 2020, allowing Hamasaki to compete again and regain the belt.
Hamasaki became a two-fight RIZIN Super Atomweight Champion in December, submitting Miyuu Yamamoto within a round.
Asakura has been active since her 2018 New Year’s Eve loss to Hamasaki. She is currently on a four-fight win streak which includes a recent win against AI at RIZIN 26.
Former ONE Championship Fighter Tokudome Matched Against Souza
Roberto Satoshi Souza is set to fight Kazuki Tokudome on the main card. Souza’s last bout was in August, where he stopped Yusuke Yachi in the main event of RIZIN’s first card back after a break in 2020.
Souza currently holds a RIZIN record of three wins and one loss.
The bout will be Tokudome’s first after a four-fight stint in ONE Championship. Tokudome’s last two fights were in 2019, where he defeated Adrian Pang and Johnny Nunez.
Former UFC Fighter Horie To Make RIZIN Debut Against Seki
Former UFC fighter Yoshinori Horie will get his RIZIN debut in March, fighting Tetsuya Seki in a featherweight bout.
Horie fought once in the UFC, losing a bout to Hakeem Dawodu in 2019. He has since returned to regional promotion Pancrase where he has won and lost a fight each in 2020.
Seki, a ZST veteran, is returning to RIZIN after winning his promotional debut against Kouya Kanda in August.
Sudario Set To Face Pro Wrestler Miyamoto
Continuing his MMA run, former sumo wrestler Tsuyoshi Sudario will fight pro wrestler Kazushi Miyamoto at RIZIN 27.
Sudario has picked up two wins since transitioning to MMA in 2020. His debut win was at RIZIN 24, where he stopped wrestler Dylan James with strikes after a round. Sudario stopped MMA veteran Minowaman in December within a round due to leg kicks.
Miyamoto has been a semi-active pro wrestler for the past few years, competing a total of 15 times in the past three years.
Koike Returns Against Majima Following Strong RIZIN Debut
Hot off his RIZIN debut win from December, it was announced that former KSW champ Kleber Koike is scheduled to fight Kazumasa Majima at RIZIN 27.
Koike entered RIZIN with a bang just a couple months back, submitting Kyle Aguon within a round with a darce choke.
Majima has an impressive 12-fight win streak halted in August, as he was stopped by Yutaka Saito at RIZIN 23. Saito went on to win the RIZIN Featherweight Championship in his next fight.
Full Lineup
A total of 10 bouts were unveiled for RIZIN 27. The lineup includes returning names like Shooto Watanabe, Koji Takeda and Takasuke Kume along with
Bout 10: Ayaka Hamasaki (21-3) vs. Kanna Asakura (18-4) (RIZIN Super Atomweight Championship)
Bout 9: Roberto Satoshi Souza (10-1) vs. Kazuki Tokudome (20-10-1) (156 lbs) (MMA Bout)
Bout 8: Tsuyoshi Sudario (2-0) vs. Kazushi Miyamoto (0-0) (265 lbs) (MMA Bout)
Bout 7: Kleber Koike (26-5-1) vs. Kazumasa Majima (14-2) (156 lbs) (MMA Bout)
Bout 6: Koji Takeda (11-1) vs. Takasuke Kume (24-6-3) (156 lbs) (MMA Bout)
Bout 5: Tetsuya Seki (13-6-1) vs. Yoshinori Horie (9-3) (145 lbs) (MMA Bout)
Bout 4: Shooto Watanabe (21-5-6) vs. Takumi Tamaru (12-2-1) (134 lbs) (MMA Bout)
Bout 3: Kazuma Sone (24-20-1) vs. Shian (7-8) (134 lbs) (MMA Bout)
Bout 2: Yutaro Muramoto (7-5-2) vs. Seigo Yamamoto (5-5) (125 lbs) (MMA Bout)
Bout 1: Kohei Sugiyama (10-5) vs. Yuki Ito (6-1) (125 lbs) (MMA Bout)
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