RIZIN 26: Asakura vs Horiguchi Results
RIZIN 26 goes down on New Year’s Eve at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. RIZIN FF‘s end a turbulent 2020 with a stacked 15 fight card, featuring MMA bouts, kickboxing matchups, and two fights with special rules. In the main event, Kai Asakura defends his bantamweight title against the former champion, Kyoji Horiguchi.
Asakura knocked out Horiguchi in the first round in a non-title fight 16 months ago at RIZIN 18. A month later, ‘The Gooch’ tore his ACL and damaged his meniscus in his right knee, requiring surgery. As a result, the ATT representative had to vacate his RIZIN and Bellator 135lbs titles.
In Horiguchi’s absence, Asakura fought Manel Kape for the vacant title but lost. After ‘Prodigio’ also vacated the title when he signed with the UFC, the 27 year old got a second chance to win the title at RIZIN 23. This time knocking out Hiromasa Ougikubo in the first round to win the belt.
Elsewhere on the RIZIN 26 card, Japanese kickboxing superstar Tenshin Nasukawa returns against Thailand’s Kumandoi Phetjaroenvit, Kai’s older brother Mikura Asakura takes on Satoshi ‘Dominator’ Yamasu, MMA legend Takanori Gomi faces Kouzi, and Ayaka Hamasaki and Miyuu Yamamoto fight for the super atomweight title.
Official Results From RIZIN 26: Asakura vs Horiguchi
Main Card:
RIZIN Bantamweight Championship: Kyoji Horiguchi defeats Kai Asakura via first round TKO (2:50)
Kickboxing: Tenshin Nasukawa defeats Kumandoi Phetjaroenvit via unanimous decision
Mikuru Asakura defeats Satoshi Yamasu via first round TKO (4:20)
‘Special Standing Bout Rules: Takanori Gomi defeats Koji Tanaka via majority decision
RIZIN Super Atomweight Championship: Ayaka Hamasaki defeats Miyuu Yamamoto via first round scissor choke submission (1:42)
Prelims:
Naoki Inoue defeats Yuki Motoyo via first round rear naked choke submission (4:20)
Kleber Koike defeats Kyle Aguon via first round D’arce choke submission (4:15)
Kyohei Hagiwara defeats Ren Hiramoto via second round TKO (1:28)
Hideo Tokoro defeats Shinobu Ota via second round armbar submission (2:23)
Early Prelims:
Kickboxing: Yoshinari Nadaka defeats Petmalai Phetjaroenvit via first round TKO (2:19)
Ulka Sasaki defeats Kenta Takizawa via unanimous decision
Kanna Asakura defeats Ai Shimizu decision via unanimous decision
Special Rules: Shibatar defeats Mr. X (Hiroya) via second round armbar submission **
Kazuma Kuramoto defeats Taiyo Nakahara via first round TKO (2:10)
Tsuyoshi Sudario defeats Ikuhisa Minowa via first round TKO (3:17)
Sakura Mori vs Eru Takebayashi – No Contest *
* Mori won via first round armbar submission, but the fight was overturned to a NC due to Mori missing weight.
** The fight was originally called a draw, but officials declared Shibatar the winner after ruling Hiroya tapped to an armbar in the second round.
During the event, RIZIN FF president Nobuyuki Sakakibara announced that the promotion will return on March 14th at the Tokyo Dome, for RIZIN 27.
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