RIZIN’s June 27th card has received two new matchups, including a bout between Strawweight King of Pancrease Daichi Kitakata and Yusaku Nakamura. The fight, which was announced on Saturday, is set to happen at the Maruzen Intec Arena Osaka in Osaka, Japan.
Both fighters will be returning after losing in their last RIZIN showing.
Nakamura has appeared in RIZIN numerous times now, fighting under their MMA and kickboxing ruleset.
Nakamura’s last appearance saw him get stopped within a round in August by Tatsuki Saomoto. The fight pushed Nakamura’s promotional RIZIN record in MMA to one win and three losses.
Kitakata made his RIZIN debut in November, losing on scorecards to Tatsuki Saomoto. His prior fight, a bout that took place a year prior to then, saw him lose to Yosuke Saruta on a ONE Championship card.
Kitakata has been Pancrase’s 115-pound champ since 2019, where he dethroned inaugural champ Mitsuhisa Sunabe.
Kickboxing Prospect Nadaka Returns Against Chikai
Young Muay Thai and kickboxing fighter Yoshinari Nadaka will have the chance to showcase his skills in the RIZIN ring for the third time when fighting Chikai on the card.
Nadaka has had two dominant performances on the RIZIN stage, stopping Yuushin and Phetmalai Phetjaroenvit at events last year.
He has stayed active outside of RIZIN as well, fighting twice in BOM in that time. Nadaka last competed last month, stopping Ibuki Bravely in a Muay Thai bout.
Chikai enters RIZIN with experience in the regional Muay Thai scene in Japan. The 20-year-old has frequently competed in NJKF, BOM and DUEL, among other promotions.
Updated Lineup
An official main event has yet to be announced for RIZIN 29. The event is set to happen two weeks after RIZIN 28, which will be the promotion’s debut at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo.
Along with the new fights announced on Saturday, the promotion scheduled a press conference for RIZIN 28 on Monday.
Here is how the RIZIN 28 show looks with the new matchups in place.
Bout 12: Shian (8-8) vs. Takafumi Otsuka (28-18-1) (RIZIN Bantamweight Grand Prix Opening Round)
Bout 11: Kuya Ito (10-8-1) vs. Kintaro (13-9-2) (RIZIN Bantamweight Grand Prix Opening Round)
Bout 10: Kenta Takizawa (11-7) vs. Masakazu Imanari (38-19-2) (RIZIN Bantamweight Grand Prix Opening Round)
Bout 9: Kazuma Kuramoto (8-1) vs. Alan Yamaniha (17-8-4) (RIZIN Bantamweight Grand Prix Opening Round)
Bout 8: Rikuto Shirakawa (9-8-1) vs. Jin Aoi (8-3-1) (145 lbs) (MMA Bout)
Bout 7: Yusuke Yachi (21-11) vs. Yuki Kawana (16-5-5) (156 lbs) (MMA Bout)
Bout 6: Kouzi vs. Genji Umeno (134 lbs) (Kickboxing Bout)
Bout 5: Taiju Shiratori vs. Ryo Takahashi (134 lbs) (Kickboxing Bout)
Bout 4: Yuma Yamahata vs. Kiyoto Takahashi (139 lbs) (Kickboxing Bout)
Bout 3: Seiki Ueyama vs. Josei Izumi (123 lbs) (Kickboxing Bout)
Bout 2: Yusaku Nakamura (16-8-1) vs. Daichi Kitakata (20-10-1) (126 lbs) (MMA Bout)
Bout 1: Yoshinari Nadaka vs. Chikai (115 lbs) (Kickboxing Bout)
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