A venue synonymous with legendary grand prix MMA action will host the opening round of a new tournament from RIZIN later this year.
RIZIN’s May 4th return to the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan will feature the first round in an eight-man heavyweight tournament, a bracket where the winning fighter will be awarded 20 million yen (roughly $132,000 USD).
The tournament, which was announced Wednesday in Japan, will feature a mix of heavyweights from within the country’s scene, plus fighters from affiliate promotions who are letting their talents enter the bracket.
Unlike past tournaments that saw some or even most tournament action take place in one night, only the opening round will go down in May. The semi-finals are expected this summer, and the finals are being targeted for autumn.
Six names have been unveiled for the bracket thus far, half of which represent the Japanese MMA scene. Among those set to compete are former sumo wrestler turned MMA talent Tsuyoshi Sudario, 29-year-old finisher Mikio Ueda, and returning talent Shoma Shibisai, who has pieced together three wins in RIZIN since 2022.
Other talents include Alexander Soldatkin from German regional FNC, Marek Samociuk from Polish MMA leader KSW, and ex-Bellator talent Jose Augusto, who is representing U.S.-based promotion LFA.
The final two entrants will be unveiled at a later date.
The upcoming bracket is a return to the early days of RIZIN, where the promotion presented two grand prix brackets focused on heavyweight talents. In 2015, King Mo defeated now-UFC talent Jiri Prochazka to win the RIZIN Heavyweight Grand Prix. A year later, JMMA legend Mirko Cro Cop got past Amir Aliakbari in the finals of an openweight tournament.
After years of brackets focused on lower weight classes—bantamweight, lightweight, and atomweight—the heaviest hitters will be back under the spotlight this year.
The Tokyo Dome is possibly best known in combat sports for hosting many of the top events from legendary MMA promotion Pride FC. The venue played host to the 2000 Openweight Grand Prix, where heavyweight Mark Coleman put on a legendary showing of three straight wins in one night to come out victorious.
RIZIN is looking to load up the May card, potentially making it their biggest MMA lineup in the venue yet. They previously presented a stacked show when they made their Tokyo Dome debut in 2021, although COVID-19 pandemic restrictions meant the show had a turnout of just 9,000 attendees.
RIZIN drew over 56,000 attendees when heading back the following year with “THE MATCH 2022,” but the card was a co-promotion between many other brands and was strictly a kickboxing lineup.
Along with the announcement of a heavyweight grand prix, it was revealed this week that former UFC fighter John Dodson and ex-Bellator talent Danny Sabatello will appear in the lineup. Here’s a look at all of the fights set for RIZIN Otoko Matsuri so far:
Bout 6: Kleber Koike (34-7-1) vs. Razhabali Shaydullaev (12-0) (RIZIN Featherweight Championship)
Bout 5: Hiroya (10-13-1) vs. Tatsuki Shinotsuka (0-0) (Flyweight)
Bout 4: Danny Sabatello (14-4-1) vs. Shinobu Ota (7-4) (Bantamweight)
Bout 3: John Dodson (24-14) vs. Takaki Soya (12-6-1) (Flyweight)
Bout 2: Erson Yamamoto (4-7) vs. Daichi Tomizawa (1-0) (Flyweight)
Bout 1: Joe Hiramoto (1-1) vs. Toki Tamaru (0-0) (Flyweight)
Knockdown News 