The year 2021 will the seventh year in the history of the Rizin Fighting Federation, a

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, inc ...

promotion based in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. It started broadcasting through a television agreement with

Fuji Television JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as and colloquially known as CX, is a Japanese television station based in Odaiba today is a large artificial island in Tokyo Bay, Japan, across the Rainbow Bridge from central Tokyo. Odaiba was initially b ...

. In North America and Europe Rizin FF is available on PPV all over the world and on live-now.

Background

Nobuyuki Sakakibara is a Japanese businessman and mixed martial arts (MMA) promoter. He is known for his executive role in Dream Stage Entertainment, including its promotions Pride Fighting Championships and Fighting Opera Hustle, and works as the current preside ...

announced that Rizin is planning to work in copromotion with new Japanese promotion MEGA. He also announced that they will work with

Scott Coker Scott Coker (born October 3, 1962) is an American mixed martial artist, Taekwondoin, former movie stuntman, and combat sports promoter. He is the founder and former CEO of MMA promotion Strikeforce and the current President of Bellator MMA. Bac ...

to bring the Bellator Bantamweight World Champion

Juan Archuleta Juan Archuleta (born September 13, 1987) is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the Bantamweight (MMA), Bantamweight division of Bellator MMA, and he is the former Bellator Bantamweight Champion. A professional MMA competitor sinc ...

in Japan to face the winner of the Rizin Bantamweight Championship bout between

Kai Asakura is a Japanese mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist currently competing as a bantamweight (MMA), bantamweight in the Rizin Fighting Federation. A professional competitor since 2012, he formerly competed for Road Fighting Championship, Fighti ...

and

Kyoji Horiguchi is a Japanese mixed martial artist currently competing in Bellator MMA and Rizin FF in the Flyweight division. He is the former bantamweight champion in both organizations. As of December 13, 2022, he is #6 in the Bellator Bantamweight Rankings ...

List of events

Grand Prix

On March 26, 2021, it was announced that a Bantamweight Grand Prix will be held during the year: beginning in Rizin 28 – Tokyo and ending in the Rizin New Year's Eve event. The winner will receive ¥10,000,000 and the second place will net ¥5,000,000.

Rizin Bantamweight Grand Prix 2021 bracket

Rizin 27 – Nagoya

''Rizin 27 – Nagoya'' was initially scheduled to be a

combat sport A combat sport, or fighting sport, is a competitive contact sport that usually involves one-on-one combat. In many combat sports, a contestant wins by scoring more points than the opponent, submitting the opponent with a hold, disabling the oppon ...

event held by Rizin Fighting Federation on March 14, 2021, at the

Tokyo Dome is an indoor stadium in Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan. It was designed as a baseball stadium following its predecessor, Korakuen Stadium. Construction on the stadium began on May 16, 1985, and it opened on March 17, 1988. It was built on the site of th ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

. However, in February it was announced that the event was postponed to take place at

Nippon Gaishi Hall , formerly Nagoya Rainbow Hall, is an indoor sports arena located in Nagoya, Japan. From April 1, 2007, its name was changed to Nippon Gaishi Hall, to reflect the sponsorship of the NGK Insulators. The capacity of the arena is 10,000 people. The ...

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most pop ...

, on March 21, 2021.

Background

A Rizin Women's Super Atomweight Championship rematch bout between current two-time champion

Ayaka Hamasaki is a Japanese female mixed martial artist, judoka and submission grappler. She is the former Rizin Super Atomweight Champion. She has fought in MMA promotions ''Shooto'', Jewels and Rizin in Japan, and Invicta FC in the United States. Hamasaki ...

and

Kanna Asakura Kanna Asakura ( ja, 浅倉栞南); born October 12, 1997 in Chiba, Japan is a female Japanese mixed martial artist. She competes in the Atomweight (106 lb) division and is currently signed with the Rizin Fighting Federation. She is the #6 ran ...

is expected to headline this event. The pairing met previously at Rizin 14 on December 31, 2018, where Hamasaki won via armbar in the second round to capture the inaugural Rizin Women's Super Atomweight title. The co-main event featured a lightweight bout between the brazilian grappler

Roberto de Souza Roberto Satoshi de Souza (born September 19, 1989; ) is a Japanese-Brazilian , , lead=yes are Brazilian citizens who are nationals or naturals of Japanese ancestry or Japanese immigrants living in Brazil or Japanese pe ...

and the former lightweight King of Pancrase Kazuki Tokudome. Riki Sakurai missed weight limit ahead of his fight against Riku Yoshida, Sakurai was 1.95 kilograms over the limit. The fight will proceed, Sakurai started the fight with minus 2 points and the bout was declared no contest because he win. Tsuyoshi Sudario was fined after he landed punches after the referee stops the fight, he has been fined 25 percent of his purse.

Results

Rizin 28 – Tokyo

''Rizin 28 – Tokyo'' was a

Combat sport A combat sport, or fighting sport, is a competitive contact sport that usually involves one-on-one combat. In many combat sports, a contestant wins by scoring more points than the opponent, submitting the opponent with a hold, disabling the oppon ...

event held by Rizin Fighting Federation on June 13, 2021, at the

Background

The event featured the one time RIZIN Featherweight title challenger Mikuru Asakura who made his tenth RIZIN appearance against the former KSW Featherweight Champion

Kleber Koike Erbst Kleber Koike Erbst (born October 16, 1989; ) is a Japanese mixed martial artist who competes in the Featherweight division of Rizin Fighting Federation, where he is the former Rizin Featherweight Champion. He has also competed in Konfrontacja ...

as the event headliner.

and Tofiq Musayev battled for the inaugural Rizin Fighting Federation Lightweight Championship. This event also hosted the first half of Rizin Bantamweight Grand Prix Opening round fights. The event was originally scheduled to take place on May 23, however due to a State of Emergency being declared between April 25 to May 9, the event was postponed to June 13. Due to the ticketing system, the event numbers will stay as they are. This will be the first MMA event in the Tokyo Dome in 18 years and they are hoping to hold at least 50% capacity for the venue, equaling about 25,000 spectators. RIZIN Featherweight champion Yutaka Saito fought Vugar Keramov in a non-title bout. A heavyweight bout between Tsuyoshi Sudario and Shoma Shibisai was announced for the event.

RISE Rise or RISE may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities * '' Rise: The Vieneo Province'', an internet-based virtual world * Rise FM, a fictional radio station in the video game ''Grand Theft Auto 3'' * Rise Kujikawa, a vide ...

Welterweight champion BeyNoah made his mixed martial arts debut against Satoshi Yamasu in a 73 kg catchweight bout.

Results

Rizin 29 – Osaka

''Rizin 29 – Osaka'' was a

event held by Rizin Fighting Federation on June 27, 2021, at the Maruzen Intec Arena in

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

. The event was originally scheduled for May 23, but was subsequently postponed due to a

state of emergency A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to be able to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state du ...

declared in response to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

Background

This event is expected to host the second half of Rizin Bantamweight Grand Prix initial round fights. The event will be held with 50% capacity, equaling about 5000 spectators. A four-man 60 kg kickboxing tournament was announced for this event, featuring Ryo Takahashi, Koji, Genji Umeno and

Taiju Shiratori is a Japanese professional muay thai kickboxer and former boxer. A professional competitor since 2011, Shiratori began his career as a muay thai fighter, most notably winning the WPMF Japan title in 2013. Following an unsuccessful two year b ...

. Two additional kickboxing bouts were scheduled for the event: Seiki Ueyama was set to fight Jyosei Izumi at flyweight, while Yuma Yamahata was scheduled to fight Kiyoto Takahashi in a catchweight bout. It was announced that the

Shooto Shooto is a combat sport and mixed martial arts organization that is governed by the ''Shooto Association'' and the ''International Shooto Commission''. Shooto was originally formed in 1985, first as a particular fighting system and then in 198 ...

Lightweight champion Yuki Kawana would fight Yusuke Yachi, while Rikuto Shirakawa would fight Jin Aoi at featherweight. Two more bouts were announced on May 28: a flyweight bout between the former Pancrase champion Daichi Kitakata and the former DEEP flyweight champion Yusaku Nakamura, as well as a flyweight kickboxing bout between the former

Lumpinee Lumpinee Boxing Stadium ( th, สนามเวทีมวยลุมพินี) is a sporting arena in Bangkok, Thailand. The stadium is named after Lumbini, the birthplace of the Buddha. Opened more than a decade later than Rajadamnern ...

and Rajadamnern champion

Nadaka Yoshinari is a Japanese kickboxer, and the current Battle of Muaythai Flyweight champion. He is the former Lumpinee, Rajadamnern, IBF Muaythai and WBC Muaythai champion at mini flyweight. He is also known as Nadaka Eiwasports gym (th: นาดาก ...

and Chikai.

Results

Rizin 30 - Saitama

''Rizin 30 - Saitama'' was a

event held by Rizin Fighting Federation on September 19, 2021, at the

Saitama Super Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena located in Chūō-ku, Saitama, Saitama Prefecture, Japan. It opened preliminarily on May 5, 2000, and then was officially opened on September 1 of the same year. Its maximum spectator capacity is 36,500, making i ...

in Saitama,

Background

The event would also feature the quarterfinal bouts of the bantamweight Grand Prix.

was scheduled to face

Emi Fujino is a Japanese female mixed martial artist, kickboxer and professional wrestler, occasionally nicknamed . Background Fujino was born on in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. After graduating from college, she started training in Japanese style of catch ...

in a non-title bout in the co-main event. Olympic Greco-Roman wrestling silver medalist Shinobu Ota and former K-1 Welterweight champion

Yuta Kubo is retired Japanese lightweight kickboxer. He won the Japanese national tournament of K-1 at Lightweight in 2011. In June 2020, Kubo announced his retirement from kickboxing, and transition into coaching at his own gym: "PURGE TOKYO". He's als ...

were scheduled to fight in a featherweight bout. KNOCK OUT 65 kg champion Chihiro Suzuki was scheduled to face the 18-year mixed martial arts veteran Shoji Maruyama in a featherweight bout. Koji Takeda and Yusuke Yachi were scheduled to face each other in a featherweight bout. Two UFC veterans, Yoshinori Horie and

Ulka Sasaki Ulka may refer to: * Ulka Gupta (born 1997), Indian film and television actress * Ulka Sasaki (born 1989), Japanese mixed martial artist * DRDO Ulka Ulka (Sanskrit: meteor or firebrand) is an air-launched expendable target drone of India. Desc ...

were scheduled to face each other in a featherweight bout. A women's atomweight kickboxing bout between

Panchan Rina , better known as , is a Japanese professional kickboxer. She is the current Knock Out-Black Female Minimumweight Champion. She is also a former Knock Out-Black Female Atomweight Champion and a Rebels-Black Women's 46 kg Champion. After ...

and Momoka Mandokoro was scheduled for the event. It was the first women's kickboxing bout in Rizin history.

Results

Rizin Landmark Vol.1

''Rizin Landmark vol.1'' was a

event held by Rizin Fighting Federation on October 2, 2021, in

, Japan.

Background

The event was headlined by a 68 kg catchweight bout between Mikuru Asakura and Kyohei Hagiwara. On August 21, 2021, Rizin announced two bantamweight bouts were announced for the event:

Masakazu Imanari is a Japanese former professional wrestler and current mixed martial artist currently competing in the Bantamweight division of Rizin Fighting Federation. A professional competitor since 2000, he is a veteran of ONE Championship, DEEP, ZST, Panc ...

would face Takeshi Kasugai, while Shooto Watanabe would face Kuya Ito. Ito later withdrew from his bout with Watanabe due to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

protocols, and was replaced by Nobutaka Naito.

Results

Rizin 31 - Yokohama

''Rizin 31 - Yokohama'' was a

event held by Rizin Fighting Federation on October 24, 2021, at the Pia Arena in

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of To ...

Background

A featherweight title fight between the reigning champion Yutaka Saito and title challenger Juntaro Ushiku was scheduled as the event headliner. A women's super atomweight bout between the reigning Jewels atomweight and DEEP Microweight champion

Saori Oshima Saori Oshima (大島沙緒里, born 14 November 1994), née Saori Adachi, is a Japanese mixed martial artist. She currently competes in the atomweight division of Jewels. She is the current Jewels atomweight champion and the current DEEP Microw ...

and the two-time

Rizin FF Rizin Fighting Federation (Rizin FF or Rizin) is a Japanese mixed martial arts organization created in 2015 by the former Pride Fighting Championships and Dream Stage Entertainment president Nobuyuki Sakakibara. Rizin was founded to be the spir ...

atomweight title challenger

was announced for the event. Rizin-regular Tsuyoshi Sudario was scheduled to face Radlein Saint Ilme in a heavyweight bout.

Results

Rizin 32 - Okinawa

''Rizin 32 - Okinawa'' was a

event held by Rizin Fighting Federation on November 20, 2021, at the

Okinawa Arena The Okinawa Arena, also provisionally known as the Okinawa City Multi-Purpose Arena, is an indoor arena in Okinawa, Japan. It was opened in 2020 and will be one of the venues of the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup. Background Plans to build the O ...

Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...

Background

The event was headlined by a super-atomweight bout between the 2017 Super Atomweight Grand Prix runner-up

Rena Kubota , better known by her ring name Rena or Reina, is a professional Japanese shoot wrestler, kickboxer and mixed martial artist, currently competing in the strawweight division of Rizin. A professional competitor since 2007, Kubota previously co ...

and the one-time Rizin Super Atomweight title challenger

Miyuu Yamamoto is a Japanese female freestyle wrestler and mixed martial artist. Yamamoto is a three-time freestyle wrestling world champion and a Rizin Women's Super Atomweight title contender in MMA. She is represented with Krazy Bee. Personal life Miyuu ...

Results

Rizin Trigger 1

''Rizin Trigger 1'' was a

event held by Rizin Fighting Federation on November 28, 2021, at the

World Memorial Hall or World Hall is a multi-purpose arena located in the Chūō-ku Ward of Kobe, Japan. It has a maximum capacity of 8,000 people and is optimized for large-scale meetings, sport events, trade shows and concerts. It is located on the artificial isl ...

Kobe Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture Japan. With a population around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in Kansai region, whic ...

Background

The event was the first time Rizin's hold the bouts in a cage instead of a ring.

Results

Rizin 33 - Saitama

''Rizin 33 - Saitama'' was a

event held by Rizin Fighting Federation on December 31, 2021, at the

in Saitama,

Background

A Rizin Lightweight Championship title bout between reigning champion

and title challenger Yusuke Yachi was scheduled as the event headliner. Rizin Bantamweight Grand Prix Semi-final bouts were scheduled to take place during the event.

Results

References

External links

Official event

{{2021 in mixed martial arts Rizin Fighting Federation 2021 in mixed martial arts 2021 in Japanese sport 2021 sport-related lists

Background

List of events

Grand Prix

Rizin Bantamweight Grand Prix 2021 bracket

Rizin 27 – Nagoya

Background

Results

Rizin 28 – Tokyo

Background

Results

Rizin 29 – Osaka

Background

Results

Rizin 30 - Saitama

Background

Results

Rizin Landmark Vol.1

Background

Results

Rizin 31 - Yokohama

Background

Results

Rizin 32 - Okinawa

Background

Results

Rizin Trigger 1

Background

Results

Rizin 33 - Saitama

Background

Results

See also

References

External links