RIZIN has loaded up their classic New Year’s Eve card with another two title fights.
Joining an already-booked featherweight championship fight between Chihiro Suzuki and Kleber Koike, a pair of other title bouts have been added to the promotion’s December 31st card at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.
Long-Time Lightweight Champ Souza To Face Karamov
Former featherweight champ Vugar Karamov will move up one division in hopes of taking down RIZIN’s longest-standing champ.
Karamov has been booked to face RIZIN Lightweight Champion Roberto Satoshi Souza later this month, as announced at a press conference this week.
Karamov scored an incredibly quick win in his return to the cage just a few weeks back, stopping Kazumasa Majima in just 28 seconds. The fight was his first appearance since a brief run as featherweight champ came to an end last year due to a loss against current incumbent titleholder Chihiro Suzuki.
Overall, Azerbaijan-based fighter Karamov has found success in RIZIN since joining the promotion in 2020. He previously put together a quick win against Mikuru Asakura to become a featherweight champ in 2023, a fight he was only given after getting past names like former UFC fighter Yoshinori Horie and regional champ Sora Yamamoto.
In the upcoming appearance, Karamov will fight above the featherweight limit for the first time since 2019. If successful, he will become just the second man in RIZIN history to capture a title in two separate divisions.
Souza’s multi-year run as lightweight champ has included three successful defences of his belt, more than any other champ in RIZIN history. His stellar grappling skills have been on display in past title fights, submitting Tofiq Musayev, Yusuke Yachi and Johnny Case in the past.
After going two-for-four in non-title fights from 2022 to 2024, Souza returned to his champion duties three months back with a rare showcase of his striking capabilities, stopping Brazilian finisher Luiz Gustavo in 21 seconds with strikes.
New Flyweight Champ Horiguchi To Meet Zulu
Kyoji Horiguchi, one of the biggest stars in RIZIN’s history, is set for his seventh New Year’s Eve appearance. Looking to defend the new RIZIN Flyweight Championship for the first time, he’ll take on South Africa’s Nkazimulo Zulu as part of the upcoming show.
Former bantamweight champ Horiguchi became the promotion’s first-ever flyweight titleholder on last year’s New Year’s Eve card, handing high-level contender Makoto Shinryu his second-ever pro loss with a second-round rear naked choke submission.
Horiguchi followed that title win up with a massive non-title performance, avenging his 2021 Bellator championship loss against Sergio Pettis with a three-round unanimous decision result in June.
The RIZIN vet now looks to take down Zulu, a regional champ who joined the promotion’s roster earlier this year.
After spending years as part of the title picture in South Africa’s EFC promotion, Zulu made the jump to RIZIN earlier this year with a first-round stoppage against Jo Arai.
While Zulu has quite the background in MMA with more than a decade of pro fights to his name, the upcoming matchup will be his biggest assignment yet.
Here’s an updated look at RIZIN’s New Year’s Eve card, which is starting to look near completion:
Bout 16: Chihiro Suzuki (13-3) vs. Kleber Koike (33-7-1) (RIZIN Featherweight Championship)
Bout 15: Roberto Satoshi Souza (17-3) vs. Vugar Karamov (20-5) (RIZIN Lightweight Championship)
Bout 14: Kyoji Horiguchi (33-5) vs. Nkazimulo Zulu (16-6-1) (RIZIN Flyweight Championship)
Bout 13: Takakenshin (1-3) vs. Ed Polo King (0-0) (Heavyweight)
Bout 12: Yuta Kubo (5-1) vs. Razhabali Shaydullaev (11-0) (Featherweight)
Bout 11: Mikio Ueda (3-2) vs. Kim Tae-in (5-0) (Heavyweight)
Bout 10: YA-MAN vs. Karshyga Dautbek (16-3) (Featherweight)
Bout 9: Yusuke Yachi (27-14) vs. Taisei Sakuraba (0-0) (Lightweight)
Bout 8: Makoto Shinryu (18-3-1) vs. Jose Torres (12-3-1) (Catchweight 130 lbs)
Bout 7: Yuki Motoya (36-12) vs. Kyouma Akimoto (7-0) (Bantamweight)
Bout 6: Seika Izawa (14-0) vs. Lucia Apdelgarim (2-3) (Super Atomweight)
Bout 5: Koji Takeda (16-7) vs. Suguru Nii (19-12) (Featherweight)
Bout 4: Taiga (0-0) vs. Genji Umeno (0-0) (Bantamweight)
Bout 3: Rukiya Anpo vs. Ryan Garica (Exhibition Boxing)
Bout 2: Curmel Moton vs. Albert Pagara (Exhibition Boxing)
Bout 1: Amado Vargas vs. Sean Garcia (Exhibition Boxing)
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