RIZIN’s 2025 Heavyweight Grand Prix officially started on Sunday night, with three fighters advancing to the semi-finals following wins in front of 46,000 fans at the Tokyo Dome.
Mikio Ueda, Jose Augusto and Marek Samociuk all emerged with victories at RIZIN “Otoko Matsuri,” getting past opponents whom they were matched with through a random draw three weeks ago. The trio are expected to return to the promotion later this summer to compete in their semi-final fights.
While Sunday’s show was also expected to feature a quarter-final fight between Islambek Baktybek Uulu and Alexander Soldatkin, it was announced Sunday that the bout was cancelled due to an injury on Baktybek Uulu’s side.
It’s expected that Soldatkin will still have to fight his way through to the semi-finals, with RIZIN now planning to book his fight for June 14th at “LANDMARK 11” in Sapporo. His new opponent hasn’t been announced yet.
Mikio Ueda had the biggest heavyweight performance on Sunday, making quick work of Shoma Shibisai and stealing the spotlight following two forgettable bouts earlier in tournament action.
Karate specialist Ueda continued his career-long tradition of not needing scorecards to secure a win, chopping down Shibisai with a pair of hard leg kicks to win in just 63 seconds. Kicks from Ueda made a wincing Shibisai fall hard to the mat, causing the referee to step in quickly.
Shibisai remained on the canvas for over a minute following the result and needed assistance from his cornermen as he exited the ring, making it clear that the quick stoppage was not too early a call from the referee.
Ueda enters the semi-finals as the sole Japanese fighter left in the heavyweight tournament. The 30-year-old has fought on-and-off for RIZIN since 2022, previously winning in three of his past five appearances for the promotion. He has yet to go the distance as a pro, with his longest bout lasting just one-and-a-half rounds.
Shibisai, a fighter who has appeared in RIZIN since 2018, was looking to return with a tournament win this week. His last bout was back in 2023, when he scored a heel hook submission in the first round.
In a stand-up fight where fighters were warned by the referee about their timidity, Jose Augusto got the nod against former sumo wrestler Tsuyoshi Sudario.
Augusto’s three-round performance against Sudario was without many huge moments, but notably had a massive overhand right knockdown in just the second minute, a blow which would’ve likely ended the bout had Augusto followed up immediately. Augusto also connected with a spinning back elbow as the pace was upped in the closing moments of the bout.
Brazil’s Augusto entered this weekend representing LFA, a promotion he joined in 2023 after wrapping up a four-fight Bellator run. While his performance wasn’t head-turning, it marked his fourth victory in just under two years.
Marek Samociuk already had a significant advantage over former PFL fighter Daniel James before the bell rang for their quarter-final fight on Sunday.
Due to James missing weight for his heavyweight fight, the American talent was handed a red card before his fight against Samociuk started this week. The penalty set James back sizeably on scorecards, meaning that he likely needed to finish KSW’s Samociuk to advance into the semi-finals.
That’s not what ended up happening, and subsequently explains why it’s Samociuk who will return to Japan later this year for a semi-final fight. While James started aggressively, seemingly chasing a quick night at the office, he found his gameplan muted by large amounts of ground control from Samociuk. The Polish talent had top position during each round, never doing a ton with each position but overall outworking James.
28-year-old Samociuk entered this tournament with a fair amount of momentum, having pieced together three wins in KSW since early 2024.
Here are the quick results for Sunday’s massive Tokyo Dome card:
Main Card (RIZIN.tv)
Bout 19: Razhabali Shaydullaev def. Kleber Kike via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 1:02) (RIZIN Featherweight Championship)
Bout 18: Mikuru Asakura def. Chihiro Suzuki via TKO, Doctor Stoppage (RD 3, 1:56)
Bout 17: Kyoma Akimoto def. Ryo Takagi via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 16: Kyohei Hagiwara def. Taisei Nishitani via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 3:36)
Bout 15: Mikio Ueda def. Shoma Shibisai via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 1:03) (RIZIN Heavyweight Grand Prix Quarter-Final)Bout 14: Jose Augusto def. Tsuyoshi Sudario via Decision, Unanimous (RIZIN Heavyweight Grand Prix Quarter-Final)
Bout 13: Marek Samociuk def. Daniel James via Decision, Unanimous (RIZIN Heavyweight Grand Prix Quarter-Final)
Bout 12: Kouzi vs. Sina Karimian via Draw, Time Limit (Special Standing Rules Bout)
Bout 11: Makoto Shinryu def. Yuki Ito via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 10: Daisuke Nakamura def. Taisei Sakuraba via Submission, Armbar (RD 2, 2:01)
Bout 9: Danny Sabatello def. Shinobu Ota via TKO, Strikes (RD 3, 0:20)
Bout 8: Hiroya def. Tatsuki Shinotsuka via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 2:11)
Bout 7: Takaki Soya def. John Dodson via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 6: Taio Asahisa def. Yoshiya Uzatsuyo via TKO, Strikes (RD 2, 1:16) (Kickboxing)
Bout 5: Erson Yamamoto def. Daichi Tomizawa via Submission, Face Crank (RD 2, 1:24)
Bout 4: Jo Hiramoto def. Toki Tamaru via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 3: Yuga Nakaya def. Hiro Sasaki via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 2: Vinicius def. Takao Ueda via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 1: Futa Hashimoto def. Daichi Akahira via Decision, Unanimous (Kickboxing)
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