RIZIN FF News

Drake Riggs - April 20, 2019

RIZIN 15 is the first RIZIN event of 2019 and as per usual it looks to be a great one. Stars return and a new champion will be crowned. In the main event, we will see the first ever RIZIN light heavyweight champion be decided when Bellator’s “King Mo” Muhammad Lawal returns to the ring to try and once again pick up a win over the red-hot Czech, Jiri Prochazka.

Tom Taylor - April 9, 2019

Late last week, RIZIN Fighting Federation boss Nobuyuki Sakakibara hinted at a deal with Filipino boxing legend Manny Pacquiao. Sakakibara suggested that Pacquiao’s dealings with RIZIN would be linked to the April 21 RIZIN 15 card, now less than two weeks away, so a fight seemed unlikely from the get-go.

Tom Taylor - April 7, 2019

Back in December, RIZIN Fight Federation flew undefeated boxing legend Floyd Mayweather Jr. out to Tokyo to battle one of its brightest young stars, Tenshin Nasukawa, in an exhibition match. Unfortunately for RIZIN, this plan seemed to backfire, as Mayweather walloped the much smaller Nasukawa to a first round knockout. Despite the seemingly disastrous end to this Floyd Mayweather vs. Tenshin Nasukawa fight, RIZIN does not appear to be done flirting with top-level boxers.

Drake Riggs - February 7, 2019

On April 21, RIZIN FF will hold their first event of the year in RIZIN 15 which takes place from the Yokohama Arena in Yokohama, Japan. Four very fun matchups have already been announced for the 2019 kickoff show.

Drake Riggs - January 30, 2019

With each new year, Japan’s RIZIN Fighting Federation seems to continually step things up a notch with bigger and better shows. 2018 was no different. RIZIN capped this past year off with the fantastic RIZIN 14 New Year’s Eve show which was headlined by a surprising exhibition boxing match that featured all-time boxing great Floyd Mayweather vs prodigy kickboxing star Tenshin Nasukawa.

Tom Taylor - January 15, 2019

On November 9, UFC veteran Isaac Vallie-Flagg stepped through the ropes of the World Bare Knuckle Fighting Federation (WBKFF) ring for a gloveless scrap with Corey Simpson. More than two months later, Vallie-Flagg and many other fighters who competed on the inaugural WBKFF card are still awaiting payment. When Vallie-Flagg drew attention to his outstanding WBKFF payment on Twitter last week, he received a response from MMA legend Bas Rutten, who was appointed as WBKFF president ahead of the November card. Rutten assured Vallie-Flagg that his payment is coming soon, allegedly once WBKFF founder Tomasz Stankiewicz receives the pay-per-view revenue for the card.

Drake Riggs - January 10, 2019

“A lot of people think that was a fixed fight,” Joe Rogan said on the Joe Rogan Experience. “I think that was a 120-pound fighter… Fighting the best ever. I mean, it wasn’t a fixed fight. I don’t know why people think it was a fixed fight. That guy fights at 126-pounds I think. I think that’s his weight class. He’s tiny.

Tom Taylor - January 7, 2019

Last night, in a somewhat surprising twist, former UFC lightweight and featherweight champion Conor McGregor called for an exhibition mixed martial arts bout with 20-year-old Japanese kickboxing sensation Tenshin Nasukawa, who was recently trounced in an exhibition boxing match with Floyd Mayweather Jr. I wish to go to Tokyo to face Tenshin Nasukawa in a Mixed Martial Arts exhibition bout.Before this summer. Please arrange this, this instant. Yours sincerely The champ champ. @ufc @ParadigmSM

Tom Taylor - January 2, 2019

On New Years Eve in Tokyo, Japan, in the main event of RIZIN 14, 20-year-old Japanese kickboxing star Tenshin Nasukawa stepped through the ropes for an exhibition boxing match with undefeated legend Floyd Mayweather Jr. Because this fight was an exhibition, it would not wind up on either fighters record, no matter the outcome. All the same, Nasukawa hoped to do the unthinkable and knock the Floyd Mayweather out.

Tom Taylor - January 1, 2019

Pretty much everybody has an opinion on the Floyd Mayweather vs. Tenshin Nasukawa bout that topped Monday’s RIZIN 14 card. That includes former UFC lightweight and featherweight champ Conor McGregor. McGregor, who previously engaged in his own battle with Mayweather, recently took to Twitter to give his take on the madness. Surprisingly, however, he had little to say about Mayweather’s performance. Instead, he seems more concerned with Mayweather’s rumored $9M payday, and how it will position him on the list of the highest earning athletes in the world.

Jordy McElroy - January 1, 2019

Tenshin Nasukawa showed up for a fight, and Floyd Mayweather showed up for an exhibition match at RIZIN 14. Ironically, they both got exactly what they wanted at the featured special rules boxing match in Japan on New Year’s Eve. Mayweather left without a scratch after a glorified celebrity appearance, and Nasukawa tasted the pain and heartache of defeat after a real fight with the best boxer on the planet.

Tom Taylor - December 31, 2018

Bellator bantamweight champion Darrion Caldwell traveled all the way to Japan on his quest for a second world title, as we was booked for a RIZIN 14 bantamweight title fight with Japanese star Kyoji Horiguchi. Early on this fight, it looked as though Caldwell might succeed on his transpacific mission, as he was able to take Horiguchi down and control him on the canvas.