Knockdown Daily 12/30/22: A Full RIZIN Preview
Today's issue includes a preview of the New Year's Eve festivities
Welcome to a Friday edition of the Knockdown Daily. Today’s issue includes some recent news, plus a preview of the RIZIN event set to kick off tomorrow morning.
What’s New
Undefeated Shavkat Rakhmonov will need a new opponent if he hopes to remain on UFC’s January 14th card. Igor Lazorin reported Thursday that an injury has forced veteran Geoff Neal out of his booking for next month. It is unknown whether a new opponent will be found for Rakhmonov.
Omar Morales has been pulled from his January 14th UFC bout against promotional newcomer Mateusz Rebecki. Replacing him will be Nick Fiore, who is entering the promotion with a flawless record of six wins. Rebecki’s management revealed the change this week.
Themba Gorimbo has been given a new opponent for his February 18th UFC booking. He is now expected to face AJ Fletcher, who will be fighting to snap a two-fight skid in the UFC. Marcel Dorff reported the change this week.
Preview
RIZIN 40
Hundreds of high-level MMA events have come and passed in 2022. Some eras have begun, while others have come to an end. And while most of the year has already been written into history books, it’s not entirely over yet.
Japanese MMA promotion RIZIN will return to the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan this Saturday for their annual New Year’s Eve card. The promotion offers its best matchups of the year on its December 31st show, often having tournaments or overarching themes of the year come to a conclusion on the card.
This year offers an interesting collaborative twist. Bellator will co-promote with RIZIN for the top portion of the card. The show is scheduled to include five fights that see a Bellator talent go up against a RIZIN name. The card is stacked full of top talent from both promotions. This includes champions like Kleber Koike, Patricio Pitbull, Roberto Satoshi Souza, and Seika Izawa.
A full preview of the festivities — which are scheduled to kick off at midnight — can be read here.
Here’s the bout order:
Main Card (12:00AM EST / 2:00PM JST) (FITE / RIZIN Live)
Bout 1: Yushi (2-1) vs. Tatsuya Nakazawa (1-0) (137 lbs) (MMA Bout)
Bout 2: BeyNoah (1-2) vs. Sho Patrick Usami (5-1) (157 lbs) (MMA Bout)
Bout 3: Yoshiki Nakahara (17-5) vs. Chihiro Suzuki (9-3) (146 lbs) (MMA Bout)
Bout 4: Johnny Case (27-9-1) vs. Nobumitsu Tyson (14-6) (156 lbs) (MMA Bout)
Bout 5: Yuki Motoya (32-10) vs. Rogerio Bontorin (17-4) (134 lbs) (MMA Bout)
Bout 6: Ren Hiramoto vs. X (Special Rules Bout)
Bout 7: Hideo Tokoro (35-31-2) vs. John Dodson (22-13) (126 lbs) (MMA Bout)
Bout 8: Tsuyoshi Sudario (6-1) vs. Junior Tafa (3-0) (265 lbs) (MMA Bout)
Bout 9: Naoki Inoue (15-3) vs. Kenta Takizawa (13-8) (134 lbs) (MMA Bout)
Bout 10: Seika Izawa (8-0) vs. Park Si-woo (9-4) (RIZIN Super Atomweight Grand Prix Finals)
RIZIN x Bellator (Showtime)
Bout 11: Koji Takeda (15-3) vs. Gadzhi Rabadanov (156 lbs) (MMA Bout)
Bout 12: Juan Archuleta (26-4) vs. Kim Soo-chul (18-6-1) (134 lbs) (MMA Bout)
Bout 13: Kyoji Horiguchi (30-5) vs. Hiromasa Ougikubo (25-6-2) (125 lbs) (MMA Bout)
Bout 14: Patricio Pitbull (34-5) vs. Kleber Koike (31-5-1) (145 lbs) (MMA Bout)
Bout 15: AJ McKee Jr. (19-1) vs. Roberto Satoshi Souza (14-1) (156 lbs) (MMA Bout)
Opinion
The 2022 RIZIN Reflection Roundtable
The RIZIN Reflection Roundtable returned for its fourth year this Thursday. Join Drake Riggs, Charlie Jewett, Christopher Aguiar and Jack Wannan as they reflect on the year that was 2022 for RIZIN and Japanese MMA as a whole. The full article can be read here.
Stay Connected
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