At RIZIN 15, former UFC flyweight Justin Scoggins was scheduled to fight Kai Asakura. However, Scoggins then took to social media to announce that unless RIZIN FF would make the fight for the vacant flyweight title, he wouldn’t be appearing the event.

Just as it looked like the whole situation was sorted, according to the promotion, Scoggins suffered a meniscus and ligament tear in the knee, leading to the fight getting nixed.

Scoggins has since apologized to the fans and his opponent for not being able to compete on the card.

“I would like to apologize to RIZIN and the fans, and my opponent Asakura for not being to fight on the upcoming card”, Scoggins said. “I have suffered a serious knee injury that completely prevents me from competing. It is a fight I requested and one I hope to do later in the year. I respect Asakura and am very sorry for this exciting fight must be delayed. I also apologize to Mr. Sakakibara who approved this fight for me. I look forward to making it up to him when I am healthy.”

Justin Scoggins’s opponent at RIZIN 15, Kai Asakura expressed his disappointment at the cancellation.

“I am devastated to hear that I will not be able to fight this Sunday. I was in great shape and felt like nothing could stop me. I promise to release this frustration in my next performance so please look forward to that. I do apologize for all the fans who looked to see me fight. People get sick, and fighters get injured, it’s just part of the business, so I do hope a speedy recovery for both Sasaki and Justin. And once you guys are healthy, you can fight me.”

RIZIN 15 will now have 10 MMA fights, and 2 kickboxing matches. Below is the updated card.

King Mo vs Jiri Prochazka
Tenshin Nasukawa vs Fritz Biagtan
Kyoji Horiguchi vs Ben Nguyen
Satoru Kitaoka vs Roberto Satoshi Souza
Karl Albrektsson vs Christiano Frohlich
RENA vs Samantha Jean-Francois
Mikuru Asakura vs Luiz Gustavo
Kana Watanabe vs Justyna Haba
Damien Brown vs Koji Takeda
Manel Kape vs Seiichiro Ito
Shinju Auclair vs Saray Orozco
TAIGA vs Thallison Ferreira