With a crowd of more than 10,000 fans at Toyota Arena Tokyo,Rizin Fighting Federation put on Rizin54 on Tuesday in Tokyo. The card was headlined by afeatherweight ****** le eliminator between top MMA prospect KyomaAkimoto and former Rizin champion KleberKoike Erbst.
After three hard-fought rounds, Akimoto (13-1, 8-1 Rizin) emergedvictorious, while Erbst (35-10-1, 1 NC; 10-5, 1 NC Rizin) may haveseen his path back to the ****** le derailed.
Koike was active with kicks in the first round and landed dozens toAkimoto's legs and midsection during the first two minutes alone.Akimoto stayed calm as Koike chased him with punches. A counterleft hook rocked Koike and backed him into a corner, but herecovered quickly and took Akimoto's back. Akimoto remained on hisfeet and wobbled Koike again with punches during the final 30seconds.
Koike pressed forward with punches in the second round, but Akimotobegan to time his strikes and snapped Koike's head back with jabsand crosses. Koike bled from his nose and tried unsuccessfully topull guard. Akimoto prevented Koike from taking him down from backcontrol and backed Koike into a corner with jabs as more cutsopened on Koike's face.
Akimoto jabbed Koike in the nose and easily avoided his takedownattempts in the final round. Koike dropped to his back and daredAkimoto to follow him to the ground, but the 20-year-old declined.Koike's left eye swelled and blood began to cover his face asAkimoto's jabs forced him to retreat. The bout went to thescorecards, and all three judges sided with Akimoto for a unanimousdecision victory. He is expected to challenge for Rizin'sfeatherweight ****** le by the end of the year.
The only other bout on the card to go the distance was the co-mainevent between Shoko Sato(39-17-2, 1 NC; 5-2 Rizin) and Patrick"Patchy" Mix (20-5, 1-2 Rizin), who came in more than sixpounds over the bantamweight limit. As a result, Mix was penalizedwith a two-point deduction, which proved to be the difference after15 minutes of fighting.
The fighters exchanged inside leg kicks in the opening minutebefore "Patchy" took Sato down directly into back control. Mixsecured a tight rear-naked choke, but Sato refused to submit andbroke Mix's grip. Sato hurt Mix with two leg kicks to begin thesecond round, and Mix immediately began to favor his right leg.Sato kept his distance and continued to throw kicks as Mix slowed.Mix was unable to take Sato down, and Sato repeatedly punished himwith leg kicks.
Mix caught a kick and took Sato down early in the final round. Hepassed to side control and struck Sato's face with hammerfists.Sato attempted a modified buggy choke from the bottom before thebout went to the scorecards. Because of Mix's point deductions, allthree judges scored the fight 28-27 for Sato, giving him aunanimous decision victory. Mix has lost four straight fights.
The second Heavyweight Grand Prix ****** an semifinal between KingEdokpolo (4-0, 3-0 Rizin) and Mikio Ueda(5-4, 4-4 Rizin) got o
After three hard-fought rounds, Akimoto (13-1, 8-1 Rizin) emergedvictorious, while Erbst (35-10-1, 1 NC; 10-5, 1 NC Rizin) may haveseen his path back to the ****** le derailed.
Koike was active with kicks in the first round and landed dozens toAkimoto's legs and midsection during the first two minutes alone.Akimoto stayed calm as Koike chased him with punches. A counterleft hook rocked Koike and backed him into a corner, but herecovered quickly and took Akimoto's back. Akimoto remained on hisfeet and wobbled Koike again with punches during the final 30seconds.
Koike pressed forward with punches in the second round, but Akimotobegan to time his strikes and snapped Koike's head back with jabsand crosses. Koike bled from his nose and tried unsuccessfully topull guard. Akimoto prevented Koike from taking him down from backcontrol and backed Koike into a corner with jabs as more cutsopened on Koike's face.
Akimoto jabbed Koike in the nose and easily avoided his takedownattempts in the final round. Koike dropped to his back and daredAkimoto to follow him to the ground, but the 20-year-old declined.Koike's left eye swelled and blood began to cover his face asAkimoto's jabs forced him to retreat. The bout went to thescorecards, and all three judges sided with Akimoto for a unanimousdecision victory. He is expected to challenge for Rizin'sfeatherweight ****** le by the end of the year.
The only other bout on the card to go the distance was the co-mainevent between Shoko Sato(39-17-2, 1 NC; 5-2 Rizin) and Patrick"Patchy" Mix (20-5, 1-2 Rizin), who came in more than sixpounds over the bantamweight limit. As a result, Mix was penalizedwith a two-point deduction, which proved to be the difference after15 minutes of fighting.
The fighters exchanged inside leg kicks in the opening minutebefore "Patchy" took Sato down directly into back control. Mixsecured a tight rear-naked choke, but Sato refused to submit andbroke Mix's grip. Sato hurt Mix with two leg kicks to begin thesecond round, and Mix immediately began to favor his right leg.Sato kept his distance and continued to throw kicks as Mix slowed.Mix was unable to take Sato down, and Sato repeatedly punished himwith leg kicks.
Mix caught a kick and took Sato down early in the final round. Hepassed to side control and struck Sato's face with hammerfists.Sato attempted a modified buggy choke from the bottom before thebout went to the scorecards. Because of Mix's point deductions, allthree judges scored the fight 28-27 for Sato, giving him aunanimous decision victory. Mix has lost four straight fights.
The second Heavyweight Grand Prix ****** an semifinal between KingEdokpolo (4-0, 3-0 Rizin) and Mikio Ueda(5-4, 4-4 Rizin) got o
3 months ago
