The MMA world crossed into 2025 with a back-and-forth war out of Japan, as Kleber Koike regained the RIZIN Featherweight Championship in a tight decision result over Chihiro Suzuki.
The main event, which headlined RIZIN’s annual New Year’s Eve card from the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, and actually went past the midnight mark and beyond 2024 locally before the third round started, saw Koike kick off his second reign at featherweight and earn his first win against rival Suzuki.
The overwhelming skills Koike had on the ground allowed him to earn the win against Suzuki, who was more focused on causing damage with his strikes.
While Koike’s submission abilities have earned him 29 finishes in the past – plus a 2023 stoppage against Suzuki – the challenger settled with a scorecard win this week.
Koike gained an early lead, spending most of the first and second rounds in control of the fight on the ground. After surviving some brief stand-up exchanges with Suzuki, who landed a fair amount of leg kicks and a few hooks to the head, Koike was able to score with his own shots on the ground and keep his opponent guessing with submissions attempts on the head, arms, and legs.
A strong start for Koike turned into a much closer fight by the third round, as nasty ground and pound elbows from Suzuki opened a gash on the grappler’s forehead and marked the most significant moment of damage in the fight. But Koike provided more positive moments before the clock expired, regaining control in grappling exchanges to search for an arm triangle choke and connect with more punches.
The razor-thin scorecard result put RIZIN gold back around the waist of Koike for the first time in over a year and avenged an unsatisfying initial meeting against Suzuki.
Koike scored a three-minute armbar submission when he first met Suzuki for a championship fight in June 2023, but the then-divisional king had to relinquish his title and settle with a no-contest result due to a crucial weight miss earlier in the fight week. While he had put away Suzuki in the past, Koike technically entered this fight week still searching for his first win against the kickboxer.
A pair of strong performances over the past year, submitting former champ Yutaka Saito at the promotion’s 2023 New Year’s Eve card and beating former Bellator champ Juan Archuleta in June via heel hook, put Koike in the position for a rematch.
This week gave Suzuki the opportunity to defend his title for the second time since initially capturing the belt in 2023 with a 78-second win over Vugar Karamov. He had previously retained his belt once, making quick work of veteran Masanori Kanehara in 2024.
Suzuki became one of RIZIN’s biggest names over the past couple of years, putting together quick performances which made him one of the most exciting names at featherweight. In a testament to his status within the promotion, he was scheduled to meet Manny Pacquiao in an exhibition boxing match in July, prior to an injury scrapping him from the card.
“Chihiro, you’re a tough guy,” said Koike through an interpreter after his win. “Thank you for fighting me. Now I am the champion. I will defend this crown. It’s not the UFC, it’s RIZIN. Thank you.”
Koike is the first-ever fighter in featherweight RIZIN history to hold the belt twice. He joins a small list of others in the promotion’s history who have put together two or more RIZIN title runs (Kai Asakura, Kyoji Horiguchi and Ayaka Hamasaki).
Flyweight Champ Horiguchi Overcomes Tough Striking of Zulu For Decision Win
Kyoji Horiguchi walked into the new year with the RIZIN Flyweight Championship still around his waist, but not after a hard-fought three-round battle against Nkazimulo Zulu.
The crisp striking of Zulu provided significant trouble for the defending champ through three rounds, with a left hand dropping him to a knee in the opening round and an uppercut significantly rocking him again a round later.
But the work from Horiguchi, including a strong final few minutes on the ground, allowed him to walk away with the scorecard nod.
Horiguchi had some notable moments early in the fight, like an overhand right in the first frame which dropped Zulu and a fair amount of control in the second round.
Although it was arguably his work in the final five minutes of the fight – which saw Horiguchi spend minutes pummelling the challenger with ground and pound strikes – which likely secured him the win. The long series of shots by Horiguchi in a top position left Zulu defenceless and made the bout something of a comeback performance for the RIZIN vet.
“I’m sorry I had such a bad fight on New Year’s Eve, but thank you all for coming,” said Horiguchi, through an interpreter. “It’s you, the fans, who give me my power.”
Horiguchi became RIZIN’s first-ever flyweight champ at the promotion’s 2023 New Year’s Eve card, submitting 125-pound contender Makoto Shinryu in the second round with a rear naked choke. The former bantamweight titleholder entered this week with the momentum of a big win from the summer, avenging his 2021 loss against Sergio Pettis with a three-round decision outcome.
Horiguchi, who has fought in RIZIN since 2017 and was making his sixth New Year’s Eve appearance, has now put together a trio of wins for the first time since 2019.
Zulu sprung onto the radar of Japanese MMA viewers just earlier this year when he won his RIZIN debut via Jo Arai via first-round stoppage. The 35-year-old entered this week with more than a decade of pro experience under his belt, including a dozen title appearances as part of notable South African regional promotion EFC.
Souza Maintains Lightweight Belt With First-Round Submission
Roberto Satoshi Souza’s long-standing reign as RIZIN champ remained alive this week, as the grappling ace picked up yet another first-round submission win when he met Vugar Karamov.
Souza caught Karamov late in the first round with a triangle choke, securing a tap from the challenger with just 15 seconds to go in the round. The finish came after an aggressive few minutes for Souza, with the Brazilian talent taking the fight to the ground numerous times in hopes of ending the bout via submission.
Souza has held RIZIN’s lightweight title since 2021 when he beat Tofiq Musayev in just 72 seconds with a triangle choke. Over the years he has defended his title a total of four times, including past wins over Yusuke Yachi and Johnny Case.
2024 saw Souza put himself back on track, stringing together a trio of dominant wins after losing a pair of non-title fights in recent years. The champ returned in March against UFC alum K-Taro Nakamura, stopping him in under two minutes. And then in the quickest win of his career thus far, Souza defended his title in just 21 seconds against Luiz Gustavo in September.
Karamov was on the hunt for his second RIZIN title run this week, moving up to the lightweight limit after briefly holding the promotion’s featherweight belt in 2023. The Azerbaijani fighter was riding the momentum of a quick win from just a month prior, beating vet Kazumasa Majima in 28 seconds.
RIZIN 49 was a lengthy marathon of a card, lasting 22 bouts in total. Here’s a quick rundown of the results from Japan:
Bout 22: Kleber Koike def. Chihiro Suzuki via Decision, Unanimous (RIZIN Featherweight Championship)
Bout 21: Kyoji Horiguchi def. Nkazimulo Zulu via Decision, Unanimous (RIZIN Flyweight Championship)
Bout 20: Roberto Satoshi Souza def. Vugar Karamov via Submission, Triangle Choke (RD 1, 4:45)
Bout 19: Seika Izawa def. Lucia Apdelgarim via Submission, Triangle Armbar (RD 1, 2:21)
Bout 18: Yuki Motoya def. Kyoma Akmoto via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 17: Razhabali Shaydullaev def. Yuta Kubo via TKO, Strikes (RD 2, 2:23)
Bout 16: Karshyga Dautbek def. YA-MAN via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 15: Ryuya Fukuda def. Ryusei Ashizawa via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 0:54)
Bout 14: Mikio Ueda def. Kim Tae-in via TKO, Strikes (RD 2, 2:31)
Bout 13: Jose Torres def. Makoto Shinryu via Decision, Split
Bout 12: Taisei Sakuraba def. Yusuke Yachi via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 0:26)
Bout 11: Koji Takeda def. Suguru Nii via Decision, Technical
Bout 10: Ed Polo King def. Takakenshin via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 3:22)
Bout 9: Genji Umeno def. Taiga via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 8: Sanoh Yokouchi def. Kenshin Saito via Submission, Rear Naked Choke (RD 1, 3:02) (RIZIN Koshien Final)
Bout 7: Rukiya Anpo def. Sina Karimian via Decision, Unanimous (Exhibition Boxing)
Bout 6: Sho Patrick Usami def. Issa Hosokawa via TKO, Strikes (RD 2, 2:59) (Kickboxing)
Bout 5: Tatsuki Shinotsuka def. Aoi Noda via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 2:04) (Kickboxing)
Bout 4: Daichi Tomizawa def. Kota Miura via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 1:53)
Bout 3: Taio Asahisa def. Yura via Decision, Unanimous (Kickboxing)
Bout 2: Hyuma Yasui def. Hiroaki Suzuki via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 1: Hiroto Gomyo def. Koki Akada via Decision, Split
Knockdown News 