One of the biggest shows of the year for Japanese MMA promotion RIZIN has suffered a huge hit.
Viral superstar and kickboxing specialist Ren Hiramoto is out of his MMA rematch against Mikuru Asakura, a bout which was expected to headline a card inside the historic Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan.
The cancelled bout—billed as the headliner for “THE MATCH 2,” with RIZIN positioning the show as a sequel to the highly popular cross-promotional kickboxing event “THE MATCH 2022,” which saw Tenshin Nasukawa and Takeru Segawa face off in the main event—was scheduled to take place on May 4th.
Hiramoto showed up to an official RIZIN press conference this week with his right arm in a sling, confirming the rumors that he had sustained an injury and would have to withdraw from the fight.
RIZIN was hoping to follow up on the success of their first matchup between Hiramoto and Asakura, a fight which drew massive crowds to the Saitama Super Arena last July.
Due to the massive online following of both fighters—Asakura as a famous Youtuber with the lucrative “Breaking Down” reality web series and Hiramoto as an antihero who has hunted down Asakura for years—their fight was a massive draw.
In a testament to their pull as personalities, the fight was a smash hit despite both struggling in the sport as of late: Hiramoto had just evened his record at three wins and three losses before the fight, finally beginning to find his footing in MMA, and former title challenger Asakura was coming off back-to-back finish losses from 2023.
While the 2024 meeting between the two had a wager that the losing fighter would retire from MMA, the scheduled rematch made it clear that Asakura was set for a return to the ring. Now, with the rematch against Hiramoto not happening soon, it’s unclear when or who Asakura would fight next.
RIZIN has stated their intention to go forward with a Tokyo Dome show despite the planned headliner for the card getting scrapped. With Hiramoto out of the picture, the leading JMMA promotion now has just two months to find a new super-fight that could fill up the 55,000-capacity baseball park.
The Tokyo Dome carries large significance in Japanese combat sports, having played host to many notable MMA, boxing, and professional wrestling cards in the past. The legendary Pride FC ran the Tokyo Dome seven times, including their inaugural event in 1997, which reportedly drew a crowd of 47,000.
RIZIN has a complicated history with the venue. The brand’s past solo event at the location drew a crowd of just over 9,000, although the small turnout was entirely due to COVID-19 pandemic rules in place, which limited the capacity for live events in 2021. The promotion came together with kickboxing brands K-1 and RISE for “THE MATCH 2022” a year later, which brought out 56,000 fans.
The upcoming card was set to be different from RIZIN’s last trip to the famous location, as the first-ever “THE MATCH” card was without any MMA bouts and heavily leaned on co-promotional matchmaking with other companies. However, with the huge MMA influencer bout out of the main event picture, anything could change about the show.
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