RIZIN’s NYE special produced two brutal knockouts to top the card, including a massive championship upset.
Ilkhom Nozimov was only supposed to be on the undercard of the RIZIN NYE Super Powerhouse Matsuri event, until a late change thrust him into the co-main title fight. He made perfect use of his short notice opportunity, as he stole the show and swiftly grabbed the RIZIN lightweight title.
Roberto Satoshi de Souza has been a pretty dominant RIZIN champion since 2021, with five successful title defenses. Nozimov naturally came in as the underdog, but he ignored the odds and landed a nasty and perfectly placed knee just 13 seconds into the match up.
The late replacement from Russia brutally knocked out Satoshi, and was crowned as the new RIZIN lightweight championship.
Four other title bouts were on the RIZIN NYE event. In the main event, Razhabali Shaydullaev remained undefeated with an absolutely brutal mauling over Mikuru Asakura. Shaydullaev completely dominated arguably Japan’s most popular MMA star, landing high amplitude throws and some very heavy ground and pound. Those brutal shots combined with a pretty late stoppage led to Asakura being stretchered out of the ring.
Shaydullaev improved to 17-0, and defended his RIZIN featherweight title for a second time, once again proving that he’s one of the best fighters outside the UFC today.
In the three other championship bouts, Hiromasa Ogikubo won the flyweight tournament and 20 million yen prize, Danny Sabatello edged Naoki Inoue for the bantamweight title, and Seika Izawa submitted Rena Kubota to keep her atomweight crown.
RIZIN NYE Super Powerhouse Matsuri Results
- [Featherweight title] Razhabali Shaydullaev def. Mikuru Asakura by KO (strikes), R1
- [Lightweight title] Ilkhom Nozimov def. Roberto Satoshi de Souza by KO (knee), R1
- [Tournament finals, Flyweight title] Hiromasa Ogikubo def. Yuki Motoya by decision (unanimous)
- [Bantamweight title] Danny Sabatello def. Naoki Inoue by decision (split)
- [Atomweight title] — Seika Izawa def. Rena Kubota by submission (guillotine), R2
- Kleber Koike def. Vugar Karamov by decision (unanimous)
- Ryuya Fukuda def. Tatsuya Ando by TKO (strikes), R2
- Kyoma Akimoto def. Suguru Nii by KO (knee to the body), R1
- Karshyga Dautbek vs. Yuta Kubo — No contest (eye poke)
- Makoto Shinryu def. Hiroya Kondo by decision (unanimous)
- Joji Goto def. Jose Torres by decision (split)
- Tatsuki Shinotsuka def. Daichi Tomizawa by TKO (punches), R2
- Tatsuya “Yanbo” Saika def. Noah Bey by KO (head kick), R2
- “Jolly” Ryoma Shishimoto def. Ryusei Ashizawa by submission (armbar)
- Yamazato Enzo Masami def. Yuri Suda by submission (armbar), R1
