A pair of past RIZIN champions returned to the win column as part of the promotion’s “LANDMARK 10” card from Nagoya, Japan on Sunday night.
Ex-RIZIN Featherweight Champion Vugar Karamov scored a statement win in his return to the cage this week, putting away veteran Kazumasa Majima less than a full minute into their fight.
A hard right hook from Karamov floored Majima just past the 15-second mark of the main event, allowing the Azerbaijani talent to start teeing off with ground and pound shots. He unloaded with a series of punches and elbows to a shelled-up Majima on the ground, forcing an end to the bout after just 28 seconds.
Karamov was returning after being on the wrong side of a quick fight in his prior assignment. The 32-year-old had his short reign as RIZIN Featherweight Champion brought to a sudden end last November, getting finished in just 78 seconds by Chihiro Suzuki.
Prior to his loss against Suzuki last year – Karamov’s first time being stopped in his decade-long career – he had an impressive run in the Japanese promotion. Past wins included a rear naked choke against former UFC talent Yoshinori Horie, and a first-round submission over Mikuru Asakura to capture the vacant featherweight title.
Following his lightning-speed victory on Sunday, Karamov focused on his path toward a second title reign. He eyed potentially facing the winner of an upcoming title fight between incumbent champ Suzuki and former titleholder Kleber Koike, which will go down next month.
“The winner of Suzuki and Kleber on New Year’s Eve, let’s go,” Karamov said through an interpreter during his post-fight interview. “I want back what’s mine.”
Majima had the chance to score his biggest RIZIN win yet this weekend. The experienced talent has fought in RIZIN since 2020, providing mixed results against featherweights of varying success levels. He came into Sunday’s main event following a submission win at Super RIZIN 3, beating Suguru Nii.
One of the most decorated atomweights in the world returned earlier in the evening.
Ayaka Hamasaki, former two-time RIZIN Super Atomweight Champion and the record-holder for the longest reign in the promotion’s 108-pound division history appeared for the first time in more than two years with a victory over Korea’s Shim Yu-ri.
A slick grappling sequence from Hamasaki early in the second round earned her a kimura submission, marking her first victory since 2022.
The former champ brought the fight to the ground with a judo throw, then started to look for an arm of Shim’s on her back. Hamasaki moved into top control while beginning to apply a kimura to Shim, cranking back the Korean talent’s arm. Shim tapped shortly after Hamasaki swept up to a top position, calling an end to the bout.
The decorated atomweight was engaged in a close battle prior to the finish. Hamasaki got Shim to the mat and moved into full mount early in the fight, but faced adversity while in stand-up exchanges. Shim’s boxing in particular worked in the first round, with straight punches connecting cleanly on Hamasaki. In a battle of styles, it was Hamasaki who eventually prevailed.
Hamasaki took a break from competition after losing in the semi-final round of RIZIN’s 2022 Super Atomweight Grand Prix, dropping a decision to Park Si-woo. The 42-year-old notably held the promotion’s super atomweight title for a combined 1,417 days in the past, earning wins over notable talents like Kanna Asakura, Jinh Yu Frey and Miyuu Yamamoto.
Earlier in her career, Hamasaki earned titles in U.S. regional promotion Invicta FC and trailblazing Japanese women’s MMA brand Jewels.
Shim, a former Road FC Atomweight Champion, was making her second RIZIN appearance of the year. She previously went the distance against RENA, not being favored on scorecards in that fight.
Here are the quick results from RIZIN’s latest show:
Bout 16: Vugar Karamov def. Kazumasa Majima via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 0:28)
Bout 15: Ayaka Hamasaki def. Shim Yu-ri via Submission, Kimura (RD 2, 1:15)
Bout 14: Ryusei Ashizawa def. Shoji Maruyama via TKO, Strikes (RD 2, 1:05)
Bout 13: Tsuyoshi Sudario def. Hisaki Kato via TKO, Strikes (RD 3, 1:11)
Bout 12: Kyouma Akimoto def. Hiroaki Suzuki via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 11: Kim Kyung-pyo def. Daigo Kuramoto via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 3:59)
Bout 10: Yuki Ito def. Lee Jung-hyun via TKO, Strikes (RD 3, 2:59)
Bout 9: Hiroya def. Yuya Shibata via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 8: Tony Laramie def. Yutaro Muramoto via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 7: Magerram Gasanzade def. Rikuto Shirakawa via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 6: Alan Yamaniha def. Seigo Yamamoto via Submission, Rear Naked Choke (RD 2, 3:07)
Bout 5: Alibek Gadzhammatov def. Daichi Kitakata via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 3:20)
Bout 4: Taito Kubota def. Junya Hibino via TKO, Strikes (RD 2, 0:26)
Bout 3: Masashi Inada def. Katsuyoshi Sasaki via Submission, Armbar (RD 1, 1:38)
Bout 2: Sho Hiramatsu def. Daisuke Tatsumi via TKO, Strikes (RD 2, 2:53)
Bout 1: Jin def. Toshizo via Decision, Unanimous (Kickboxing)
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